


Worlds Collide

by YunaYamiMouto



Series: Worlds Collide [6]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Doctor Strange (Animated Movie), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: All versions, Also all versions, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate versions, BAMF Stephen Strange, BAMF Tony Stark, Comic Book Science, Deadpool being Deadpool, Deadpool cameo, Dimension Travel, Except Thanos but fuck that bitch!, Extremis Tony Stark, F/M, Family, Female Tony Stark, Fix-It of Sorts, Friendship, Gen, Good Parent Howard Stark, Goose the Flerkin, Hints of future angst, Immortal Tony Stark, Immortality, Immortals, In one universe, Infinity Gauntlet, Infinity Gems, Innuendo, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) Lives, M/M, Magic, Mama Toni, More like a hint to the future, Not Canon Compliant, Past Stony, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Protective Jarvis (Iron Man movies), So do the four Stephens, Sorry Not Sorry, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Still Has Arc Reactor, Tony2X & Toni2x have a talk, Uniting the series in this one, accuidental sexual innuendo, immortal Stephen Strange, somewhat happy ending?, tony stark - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:21:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 30,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24360508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YunaYamiMouto/pseuds/YunaYamiMouto
Summary: Different worlds collide and everyone's trying to make sense of it.Hopping dimensions is NOT appreciated by a certain first ever Vice Sorcerer Supreme/Chosen Contender.Or: crossover of (my) Endgame, Dance With The Devil, Last Chance and (Not So) Little Miracles/Science and Magic Miracles
Relationships: Cloak of Levitation & Stephen Strange, Cloak of Levitation & Tony Stark, Harley Keener & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Harley Keener & Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (MCU) & Tony Stark & Stephen Strange, Harley Keener & Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Harley Keener & Peter Parker & Pepper Potts & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe) & Tony Stark, Harley Keener & Peter Parker & Shuri, Harley Keener & Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Harley Keener & Tony Stark, Infinity Gems & Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Loki & Thor (Marvel), Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark, Nebula & Tony Stark, Nick Fury & Natasha Romanov, Nick Fury & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe) & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Stephen Strange, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Steve Rogers & Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Tony Stark, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Series: Worlds Collide [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1709506
Comments: 61
Kudos: 125





	1. Chapter 1

"Hey, Doc. Come to check on me, as usual?" Was the first thing that greeted one Doctor Stephen Strange upon entering the renovated secret Avengers Compound through a portal to visit the man who'd just made the remark. Said man was staring down at a nearly complete nanites version of the Infinity Gauntlet, only the red glove can't be removed from his wrist, like, ever again. Tony Stark had tried, that was for sure, but he couldn't take it off even two whole months after he was miraculously brought back by an alternate version of himself from a different reality of their world. No luck so far, but if anyone can do it, then it was Tony Stark, though Strange suspected the other Tony had made sure the Gauntlet was never coming off and probably for hell of a good reason.

"Steph!" The little Morgan Stark, the princess of Tony's heart who had even conquered Stephen's guarded one, yelled in excitement upon seeing one of her favorite people in the world, abandoning the Monopoly game she was slowly but surely dominating Harley, Happy and Peter in to jump into the sorcerer's arms. He grunted a little, since his hands were very much not meant to take on such weight, but caught her securely and gave her a little twirl and a hug. He was _very_ aware of Tony's gentle smile as he gazed upon them and tried not to let his heart skip several beats. The relationship between him and the peculiar Stark family was still very new and often times a bit confusing, but he wouldn't change it for the world. How it exactly got to this point, Stephen wasn't even sure but he loved every moment of it. All he knew is that Pepper Stark was a force of nature to match her husband and they had both decided to draw him into their immense reach. The world better look out, for Morgan carried both their genes. "You haven't been by for three days! You _promised_ you'd watch that movie with me! You _promsed_!"

"I'm sorry, princess, but Kamar-Taj is still reeling and struggling to fix the consequences of a couple of months ago." The Sorcerer Supreme explained, putting her down and waving to the two teens who were miserably realizing the lost cause of their game. Happy looked like he had known this was going to happen and had been resigned to his fate before even beginning the game. Then again, he _did_ know the parents of the little girl _way_ before they were even a thing. Monopoly is not a good game to play against a possible future genius and business protegy.

"From when Daddy came back?" The child asked, tilting her head, not seeing how every adult present flinched.

"Yeah," Strange nodded before pointing at her opponents. "I think I just saw Harley trying to steal some cash from the bank-"

"Hey!" The kid, thankfully, took the distraction and hurried over to the offended blond teen and the snickering Spider-Man, leaving Stephen to walk over to the man he had unexpectedly developed a deep affection for in the matter of minutes and over fourteen million viewed possible futures. Tony was back to studying the Gauntlet, only two Stones missing, one in Vision's forehead, the other back inside the rebuilt Eye of Agamotto.

"Something on your mind?" The sorcerer asked as he took a seat next to Iron Man. It would seem retirement was impossible for Tony and his hero persona. Not with the influx of half of the universe's return and all the trouble rebuilding cost. Not with the return of some villains who had been in the Soul Dimension with everyone else, especially Mordo. The other Tony had warned them and they had heeded it. Mordo really _was_ off stealing the power of other sorcerers who didn't finish their training beyond what they needed to regain mobility of limbs or entire bodies. They were still having trouble keeping track of him, even with the Infinity Stones firmly in their possession and at their disposal now. Stephen feared whether Mordo had gone down the path of Kaecillius and was using the power of the Dark Dimension to hide.

"Just thinking about the Stones, the shit we went through and how it might have happened in other realities. I mean, that other me said it took them a couple of weeks to fix everything and yet it took _us_ five _years_ and everything only got really fixed when _he_ did it," the genius engineer replied, looking up and locking gazes with the Stonekeeper. "I'm wondering if there's a world where the Snap never happened and how they stopped it, or reversed it if it did. Didn't you guys said something about killing off Contenders being bad for the universe it happens in? I mean, if he was required to fix _our_ universe, what about the _rest_ of them?"

Stephen frowned, seeing his point. "The multiverse is indeed a tricky thing to discuss. I still don't fully get the Contenders and Ambassadors of Infinity deal, but I understand that there are some fixed points in time that must happen. I know Thanos is one of them. I thought the Snap was, too, but it _could_ be that it isn't."

"Aren't you curious, though? What other worlds are like?" Stark mused, tracing a finger over the Stones and watching them light up one by one as he touched them. "I honestly want to ask _him_ a bit of advice in regards to this thing. I don't really know what to do with it and I'm not all that happy with the idea that I'm apparently destined to wait for this Galactus character to destroy the world so it can be remade again. Didn't we just save it the other day? Can't we catch a break?"

"I'm not so sure tampering with the multiverse is such a good idea-"

"I'm curious, too," a sleek, smooth voice interrupted the Earth sorcerer and he glared at the Asgardian God of Mischief as Loki walked into the room, the slowly losing weight Thor behind him, Stormbreaker in hand. "My alternate self seemed rather well off, all things considered. For one, he didn't _die_. And that Stark, however briefly we all encountered him, was radiating a completely different energy than you, no offense." The genius in question just waved him off, not bothered at all. "Their world seems to have prospered much better than our own. We could use some tips."

"I'm curious about what the other Avengers are like." None of them jumped when Natasha said from her little corner where she had been reading a book and eating PB&J sandwiches. "From what I've heard, that Steve and Tony never reconciled. I wonder if we can help them."

"I wanna see other versions of Daddy, too! You didn't let me see the last one!" Morgan jumped in, looking at them with big, hopeful eyes that Peter mirrored, excited over a new adventure. He returned back to his normal, bright, sunny self almost as soon as his mentor was returned to him and he, along with all the other families and friends of the superheroes, moved into the new secret Compound. Who knew Tony had built several of them, just in case?

"Don't think you're leaving me out of this one!" Harley said decisively and Thor just nodded. Stephen looked ready to complain but took one look at Tony and felt his resolve crumble. If the man wanted to learn more about the other version of him that had saved them all, then how could Stephen deny him.

"I guess I'll have to come along and supervise so you dolts don't go and mess up the multiverse."

Tony beamed at him, already jumping out of his seat with new energy, wiggling his fingers of his gloved hand as if to warm them up for the use of the Stones. "Anyone else wants to go on this trip?" He asked, looking around.

"Maybe we should bring Cap along?" Natasha suggested but Stephen immediately shook his head in a negative.

"The other Tony doesn't like him, remember? Though maybe we could take Vision or Danverse? Or even Nebula?"

"While Nebs and Carol would be _awesome_ to bring along, they're both out in the grand big universe, remember? And Viz is out on a date with Wanda. Clint?"

Natasha shook her head this time. "Out with his family. I don't think he'll be leaving on any more adventures anytime soon. It _has_ been a long five years."

"I'm surprised they didn't drag _you_ along," Iron Man mused and Black Widow just snorted.

"I threatened to knock him out and stuff him into the back of Laura's car if he tried, since they needed some alone time to get back in check, away from others. What about Pepper? Maybe she'd like to see her alternate self? Or Happy and Rhodey?"

"Honey-bear isn't into that sort of thing," Stark answered for his absent friend.

"I'd rather not. I think I'd freak out," Hogan replied for himself, shrugging. "And Pepper has that important SI meeting today that she threatened Tony not to come to since he's still 'recovering' and isn't obliged to answer stupid questions regarding his resurrection, the Infinity Stones or how several others were brought back to life along with him."

"Why, though?" Peter asked, confused. "I mean, sure, that brings up several traumas in several people, but surely the questions aren't too invasive or insensitive. I saw the shut down of the weapons division of SI press conference and they were pretty nice."

"The iconic 'I am Iron Man' one, too," Harley threw in, standing up to pack up the game, Morgan pouting when her efforts were destroyed.

"It's not the press that's the problem, it's the fact that Tony runs a 100% transparency policy and we all agreed that talking about a world where Iron Man can make and destroy and remake it with the power of his will is not the best conversation topic from _any_ party, political, business or media." Romanoff answered this time, smiling at Tony's pout. "And since we all know Tony will answer all questions directly, we thought it better to just not give anyone the opportunity to ask. Even Pym wants to experiment with the Stones and that's not exactly the smartest idea, given what he could do with their powers in the already freaky Quantum Realm."

"Okay, so what about Dr Banner? Does he want to come?" Spider-Man asked to change the topic and the redhead just shook her head. Thor was the one to answer, though.

"Friend Hulk-Banner is currently out entertaining Midgardian children at one of your learning facilities and will not be back until this evening."

"King T'Challa? Princess Shuri?" Harley offered.

"Busy in Wakanda." Tony answered immediately.

"Mr Barnes?"

"Helping Wilson train for his new Captain America duties."

"Director Fury?" Tony actually paused to consider it before shaking his head.

"That might not be the brightest idea, all things considered. He wouldn't even allow us to go-"

"Wouldn't I? I'm rather interested in this alternate Stark myself." Almost everyone jumped when said man's voice spoke behind them, half of Tony's Mark 85 armor spread over him in the blink of an eye and Strange already had mandala shields out, ready to fight and protect them all. They all whirled around to see Fury watching them with amusement, petting an orange cat that they knew was actually a scary alien that can eat anything if given the chance. "Don't think I'm not up for _some_ adventure myself, Stark. I'm not _that_ old or unreasonable."

"Okay, anyone else?" The genius in question asked after he calmed down and called off his armor. When no one else seemed capable of remembering someone to call, Stephen jumped in after thinking it through.

"Maybe Wong would like to come? I'll go ask him real quick," he said, already leaving the room so he could open a portal to the Sanctum and ask the Chinese man whether he was up for an adventure. A minute later, both sorcerers returned after making sure one of the other Masters will look after the New York Sanctum in their absence, ready to go exploring an entire other universe. "Okay, we're ready."

"I think that's it," Natasha confirmed after doing a head count. "I thought about calling Scott, Hope, Valkyrie and the others but I don't think this is an exactly appropriate trip for people who aren't so closely involved in all of this. Besides, we don't really know who could cause the same reaction as Steve had, so it'll just be us. Any objections?"

"I think we're good," Tony replied, flexing his fist once, twice before turning to his driver/bodyguard/babysitter/friend. "Okay, Happy, it's up to you to hold the fort. The emergency numbers are on the fridge and the security systems have been set to their highest setting. Anyone so much as _sneezes_ wrong in this direction and you'll know it. I'm keeping FRIDAY and KAREN in the suits, but I can activate JOCASTA if you want to keep you company until Cap comes back from teaching his art class. If everyone's ready, we can try to do this."

"Wait, what do you mean by _try_?"

"I'm not exactly a _wizard_ , cyclopes. I was hoping Stephen, Loki and Wong can talk me through it?"

"You haven't tried before now?" The super spy asked incredulously, but the magic users interrupted him with instructions before he could prolong the needless conversation. Tony listened with rapid attention as they tried to explain about 'feeling it' or 'imagining where he wanted to go' and other things like that and Stephen honestly thought they weren't explaining things too well because he looked skeptical. Still, Stark thought about it before going 'Fuck it' and just did what he did best when under expected pressure: he improvised, clenching his fist and suddenly a very colorful portal opened in front of them, like an endless tunnel with no end in sight. They all just kind of stared at it, none of them really wanting to walk right into something they knew nothing about until Tony repeated his earlier sentiment and strolled right in, trusting in the whole 'Destined Contender' bullshit to keep him alive. Stephen, Peter, Harley and Morgan were the first to follow, only Stephen out of anxiety while the kids thought it might be fun. The two Asgardians and two spies followed right after and then Wong, waving to Happy, who could only stare as the red, blue, purple and green portal closed after the last of them was gone, shaking his head and silently praying they hadn't just marched into their own certain deaths. Some of them had only recently been brought back to life, after all.

The tunnel seemed to stretch on for miles but everyone had caught up to each other and were walking in step, surrounding Tony and trusting him to deliver them to the exit point, wherever it might be. Stephen felt weird feeling someone else pulling on the power of the Time Stone but it didn't feel unnatural or uncomfortable. He guessed it shouldn't, if he understood the other Tony correctly about the bond of the Stones and the Contenders. He'd actually like to learn more so he can understand better. He wants to help his Tony learn how to properly control _all_ of the Stones without there being a repeat of the Third Snap.

It seemed like they were walking for hours, but it could have only been minutes, or even seconds, before another rift opened before them and they all stopped to study it, turning to their resident magic experts for any advice.

"It _looks_ safe enough," Stephen commented, squinting at the portal. "And it doesn't feel wrong in any way."

"It feels pretty much like any other portal created by the Tesseract," Loki confirmed, studying the colorful opening critically. Thor, though, just pranced right through it before anyone could stop him and they all exchanged helpless looks before following. Stephen felt a shift and he was sure the others, magical or not, probably felt it too. Goose even hissed in Fury's arms, hairs on edge, but didn't try to escape so they continued walking until they reached a blinding light and seemed to fall out of the tunnel right into ...

What looked like the Avengers Compound kitchen area, where a beautiful woman was tending to a baby boy of maybe fourteen months of age, talking with a woman that could only be Hope Van Dyne, the two of them seemingly teamed up against this world's Doctor Strange, for once dressed in casual clothes. They could hear more voices coming from the living room, no doubt Peter Parker and Carol Danvers as well as what suspiciously sounded like Vision beating the two into the fucking ground at Mario Cart and Colonel Rhodes laughing his ass off. Somewhere deeper into the Compound, Scott Lang could be heard yelling at his ants to be careful with his daughter. The visiting group exchanged a look just as this world's Strange suddenly went as stiff as a board, head snapping in their direction. The women were up in a second, the one holding the baby handing it to Hope as Strange called on his magic and the woman's hazel eyes started glowing Arc Reactor blue before what greatly resembled the red and gold version of a cross between Tony's Mark L Iron Man armor and Pepper's rescue armor snapped into place around her body from her chest.

Their side also fell into defensive stances, Tony, Peter and Harley donning their suits, Stephen, Wong and Loki activating shields or taking out magical knives, Natasha and Fury pulling out guns and pushing Morgan behind them with Goose in her little arms for protection while Stormbreaker started crackling with electricity in Thor's hand just as Carol, this world's Spider-Man, Vision and War Machine rush into the room, ready for battle. And then the Compound's defense systems activated, all weapons pointing at the visiting group, most of them now covered in red dots.

"Okay, someone tell me what the fuck is going on here _right now_!?" The woman in the red armor ordered, the helmet retracting to show off her fearsome glare.

"Yes, I'd like to know, too, before I send you all to the Dark Dimension," the Stephen of this world, still dressed casually save the red Cloak of Levitation now wrapping around his shoulders, said, eyes never leaving his alternate self. Tony just looked at the armor and the woman before retracting his own helmet. The two stared at each other before both muttering 'Fuck'. Tony cringed when Morgan repeated it with a giggle, catching the woman's attention. Her eyes grew wide before she was pushing her world's Stephen's hands down, hissing at everyone to stand down.

"They're _obviously_ alternate versions of ourselves or our friends!" She told them, confidently strutting up to her male counterpart, offering her hand. "Antonia Stark-Strange, but you can call me Toni and did you know you look exactly like one version of Sherlock Holmes in a universe where he's a real person and not just a fictional literature character?"

Tony arched an eyebrow at that but shook her hand, staring at the petite appendage with a deceptively strong grip. "Antony Edward Stark, but Tony is fine and no, no I did not. I'm taking it you've met him?"

"Oh, yeah. Stephen and I like to go dimension hopping for our dates every once in a while so we accidentally got pulled into that one once, and then into another one where he looked like Stephen. I think we left too soon. That could have been _fun_ ," the woman winked and her Strange scowled.

The visiting Strange, though, choked on his own breath. "Stark _-Strange_!? As in, you guys are _married_?!" And then he spontaneously blushed so almost his entire face was red. That did not happen to him often. The other Stephen looked at him as though he were crazy.

"Well, _yeah_! That's what you _do_ when you love someone so much your existence seems bleak every second they're away from you." The response started out sarcastic but became soft and mellow along the way as married Strange looked towards his _wife_ and the visiting Stephen had to wonder if his own eyes filled with so much love when he looked at his own genius billionaire inventor.

"Aw, Stephen! You're making me blush!" Toni said, going back over to her husband and pulling him down into a kiss before leaning up to his ear. "Maybe tonight we can ... " And thankfully the baby made a sound that could have been a 'Mama', stopping Toni in her tracks as she focused on what it only now occurred to the visitors to be _her child_.

"Wait, did you just say you guys go _dimension hopping_? Have you ever met a male version of you/me/us that has an Infinity Gauntlet forever stuck on his hand and that's, like, some sort of vice Sorcerer Supreme?" Tony, thankfully, seems to have stayed on track instead of staring at the cute boy that was _definitely_ Toni and married Strange's kid. "How long have you guys been together to actually get a kid?"

"Oh, about a year of marriage now and, what, six months of dating before that? That sounds about right," the mother casually replied, bouncing her son while her husband looked at her like she was his everything. "This handsome little man is Miracolo Stark-Strange and he's our not quite so little miracle."

"Oh? Why do you say that?" Natasha asked and Toni eyed her for a moment, her Stephen taking a step closer to her most definitely protectively.

Toni shrugged as nonchalantly as someone holding their child could. "Oh, just because of the consequences of Siberia, that nearly killed me and could only be stabilized by Extremis. I wasn't supposed to ever be able to carry a child on top of already losing one in the fight."

"Rogers?" Tony said it as a question, even though it wasn't.

"Don't date Captain America. It's bad for your health, mental or physical. I don't know why anyone would say Howard _wanted_ that man as a son when he's dense as fuck," the woman snorted, making her male counterpart's jaw drop.

"You _dated_ Steve and nearly had his _child_? And Howard _didn't_ want Steve as a son? Steve Rogers? Captain America? He _killed_ your child? Were you going to marry him, too?!"

"That's my reaction, exactly." Married Stephen nodded sagely as though he'd said the wisest thing in the world.

"There's no way Steve would do that," Natasha defended and all the New Avengers of this universe snorted. Stephen growled.

Toni, though, just like her counterpart, focused on the situation at hand. "Wait, did you just say a moment ago, that there exists a version of us that does _magic_?" She looked utterly flabbergasted. "I just gotta see that to believe it with my own eyes."

"Do _you_ guys have the Gauntlet still? Like, after the Snap and the Reversal?" Peter asked and his own counterpart looked at him strangely.

"Snap? Reversal? There was no snap or reversal? Ms Stark managed to beat Thanos into the freaking ground back on Titan and we just imprisoned the wrinkly grape." And, once again, the group of visitors was gaping at the people indigenous to this world, leaving _them_ uneasy as they realized what must have happened in the other universe. "Wait, Thanos _won_ in your world? _How_!? Why!? Who disappeared?!"

"Doctor Strange gave up the Time Stone to Thanos so he'd spare Stark's life. Afterwards, getting the Mind Stone from Vision in Wakanda was _easy_ ," Fury replied and all eyes turned to the two men in question. "After that, Thanos snapped his fingers and half of the universe turned into dust, including myself, and then destroyed the Infinity Stones so his work can't be undone."

"What he wasn't counting on was that he had left his own doom live," Natasha cut in, smirking proudly in Tony's direction. "Though it took us five years, we figured out that we can travel through time using the Quantum Realm. Well, Scott told us it was _possible_ , but no one, not even Bruce, could figure out how to stabilize and actually _travel_ through time instead of aging and de-aging a person. But Tony could."

"You invented _time travel_?" Peter, Hope and Carol asked while Rhodey just shook his head.

"I _am_ Tony Stark."

"'Nuff said," Toni agreed with a grin that disappeared when she became serious again for her question. "But who was dusted, besides Uncle Nick?"

"Uncle Nick?" Toni looked at Tony strangely for asking the question before both Stark's turned to Fury, who was hating his decision to come along more and more by the second.

"You didn't tell him you're his godfather?"

"Has it ever occurred to you that I may _not_ be his godfather in our dimension?" Fury countered and Toni snorted.

"Please, as if things are _that_ different. I mean, Stephen's still hopelessly, helplessly in love with your Tony Stark, so it can't be _too_ different."

" _That's_ how you judge other dimensions?" Harley asked incredulously and Toni just shrugged.

"That's enough of evading my question, though. Who else was dusted?"

Tony hesitated before answering. "Quill, Mantis, Drax, Groot, Sam, Barnes, T'Challa, Wanda, Fury, Hill, Laura and the kids-" Toni winced at that, predictably. "Pym and his wife, Hope Van Dyne-" This world's Hope looked both heartbroken and incredulous at that. Apparently, her mother was still lost in the Quantum Realm. " ... "

"Who else?" Stephen of this dimension asked with dread, having seen many of these possible futures where they lose so they can ultimately win.

"Me," Peter said meekly, rising his hand. The visiting Stephen just looked away, not wanting to see the reaction any of them will have to this. "But we're all back! Though it hadn't been without a cost."

"The bill comes due. Always," both Stephen's said in a grave tone of voice, the visiting Stephen unable to do anything but reassure himself that Tony was fine and alive.

"What was the cost?" Carol asked with dread, looking at the gathered people, eyes lingering on Fury and Goose in his arms.

"Me," Natasha said and Tony nodded.

"And me. We gave up our lives, Nat for the Soul Stone so Clint could bring it back and I sacrificed myself when I snapped with an improvised Gauntlet to kill Thanos and his army."

"Then how are you here?" The stricken Rhodey asked, looking desperately between the two Starks, between their kids, the Stephens at their sides and wondering why any version of his friend had to suffer so, why _no_ version if his friend had an easy life for once.

"A different Mr Stark appeared in the New York Sanctum one day and started raving at us for being idiots by killing off the Contenders and most of the Ambassadors of Infinity and destroying the Gauntlets and the Stones before he brought our Mr Stark, Ms Black Widow, Mr Loki and Mr Vision back as well as all the Infinity Stones," the visiting Peter explained and Thor nodded, picking off where he left off.

"We wish to speak with this other Stark to see if he can tell us more, which is how we ended up in your dimension."

"Do you still have the Infinity Stones?" Loki asked curiously, not really all that interested in this dimension, more intrigued by the fact that that other Stark had entrusted him with the powers of an Infinity Stone after _everything_.

"Yeah, we just locked them away. Though maybe Stephen and I can help you find the right dimension? We _do_ go to other dimensions on a regular basis, you know." Toni offered and the group looked at each other, exchanging a silent conversation, before Tony shrugged.

"The more the merrier, I guess."

Morgan squealed in joy, running up to the female version of her father. "Can I see my extra-dimensional brother?" Toni and Tony and their respective Stephens all exchanged a look at that. Rhodey just snorted.

"Oh, yeah. That's _definitely_ your kid, Tones."

"Try to be back for dinner," Vision called after them even as he drifted through the ceiling to go do ... Whatever.

"Shall we?" The visiting Stephen gestured at Tony and he nodded, repeating the process and opening the colorful tunnel portal thingy. The heroes all stepped through bravely, pausing when they finally made it out, staring at the tranquility of Kamar-Taj in surprise before registering all the sorcerers pointing mandala shields at them. The only one not doing so appeared to be this world's Strange, who was dressed considerably differently than the other two, save the Cloak of Levitation. Even the Eye of Agamotto looked different, more like a pendant than a necklace. Both Stephens immediately noted that their counterpart felt ... _different_ and even Loki looked very wary of him.

Cold, sharp green eyes zeroed in on both Starks, studying them and the kids, including Tony's protégés, before smiling. "Welcome, Stark, to my Kamar-Taj. If you wouldn't mind waiting for a few minutes, my Toni should be here any moment now. She hates portals."

"Oh, so this is another female Stark dimension," Natasha noted and tensed when those eyes focused on her. There was something so unbearably old in them that it was unnerving to have that gaze directed at you.

"You're different," Loki spoke up, daring to come to stand next to the two Starks and the two Sorcerer Supremes. "You're not like these weaklings," he gestured at the other two Stranges, narrowing his eyes at the new one. "There's something ... _otherworldly_ about you. I can't put my finger on it."

"Stephen? What the hell is going on here!?" A beautiful woman in an impeccable business suit and a weird necklace like everyone else was wearing around her neck, which was radiating magic, resting above what appeared to be the Arc Reactor in her chest, that strongly resembled Toni but was maybe an inch taller and looked much more at ease with just about anything, magic included, stormed past the gathered sorcerers, staring at the visitors, the married Toni with Miracolo in her arms and their male counterpart with his daughter before glaring at her Strange. "Start talking. _Now_!"

"It would seem we have a visitor," the green eyed men shrugged casually, still not in the least bit bothered by their appearance. "And I thought I asked you not to bring up hell due to-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, pop culture references and inaccuracies. Whatever," Toni waved him off, staring at the other two Stephens. "Are you two the devils in your own worlds?"

" _What_!?" The mixed group asked, staring at her as though she's crazy. She just huffed.

"I'll be taking that as a no."

"You did it on purpose, though," the 'devil' Stephen commented with an amused expression before turning to his two gawking counterparts. "What my darling, sleep-deprived beloved on an obviously interrupted vacation means is that I am the master of the Dark Dimension, having absorbed all of Dormammu's power until there was nothing left."

"You say that as though that's any better!" The married Stephen exclaimed while Wong was just _gawking_ at the implication that Dormammu, the being not even Agamotto himself could fight, was _gone_. And all thanks to a different version of his goofy friend. " _How_ do you even _absorb_ Dormammu's power!? It's _infinite_!" He paused and looked at the two more closely. "Is she wearing an _Infinity Gauntlet_ on her hand!?"

"Oh, that," Toni waved it off like it's nothing. "The original split in two and this one refuses to remove itself from my hand. We hid the other one away, but we can't this one since the Soul Stone is kind of stubborn like that."

"Does _every_ Stark always end up somehow connected with the Infinity Stones?" Wong exclaimed, throwing his hands up in frustration.

"I didn't. We just sealed our Gauntlet away," the mother Toni huffed, bouncing Miracolo on her hip.

"It depends on the definition of being 'connected'," the strangest Strange brushed it off, observing the only male/male Stark-Strange pair. "I've honestly never wondered what Toni would look like as a man before. Is it weird that I still find Toni Stark beautiful, no matter the form?"

"Why do you have to be so _strange_?!" Groaned his Toni while the other two looked away, blushing. The devil Strange shot his glaring counterparts a victorious, smug grin. He ignored her question, though, turning to fully face her.

"You know, _they_ are married. Why don't we do it?"

The sorcerers around them all actually groaned while that Toni glared at him. " _Really_? You're bringing this up _now_?" He just shrugged and Toni rolled her eyes at him, apparently giving up. She looked at the mixed group and sighed. "I thought this was supposed to be my vacation after the whole Thanos fucking shit or something. Like a honeymoon or something similar."

"Wait, you fought Thanos only recently?" Peter asked, frowning in confusion. "Did you stop the Snap, too, like Ms Stark did in her dimension before it could happen? Or did you have a Reversal, too? Is Mr Vision okay? What about Mr Loki?"

"Yes, what _about_ me?" The God of Mischief asked, squinting suspiciously between all three Sorcerer Supremes. The 'devil' Strange was at least a lot more distinguishable than the others in his all black, almost modern fashion runway garb. The other two Stephens had also noted this difference, too, and were wondering at it even as they tried to focus on more important things. Like the two Wongs present seizing each other up right about now. "I don't exactly have a proud, happy history with you or other versions of you, for that matter."

"Oh, our Loki and I don't exactly get along either, but we have a mutual respect of him fearing me and me not tormenting him in any way because Toni likes him for whatever reason and they're expensive scotch buddies or something, so I just take my frustrations out on Thor if I need to."

"What!? _Why_!?" The blond Asgardian exclaimed in shock while Loki was staring between the three Starks in incredulous confusion and even some ... other emotion that wasn't easily definable.

The Stephen of this dimension just shrugged. "Because you like to annoy me ever since I didn't let you just kill Thanos while the Gauntlet and the Stones were in the process of transaction to Toni, which would have ultimately killed us all had I let it happen."

"Okay, just two questions," the only male Stark - not counting Miracolo - interrupted, calling for attention of the two from this world. They looked at him, ignoring everyone else. "One, did I _seriously_ , like _any_ version of me, come to Hogwarts for _vacation_? And two, you only _recently_ fought Thanos? How recently and how did you beat him? Because we had two hell of a battles against him and we nearly lost them both. The first one was such an obvious loss it was nearly crippling and the second one ... Well ... "

"Daddy saved the universe!" Morgan supplied proudly, clinging to her father's and their favorite sorcerer's hands with a big smile on her face. The 'devil' Stephen didn't need even a second to realize what that meant and glared at his counterpart who had actually let it happen. Stephen didn't glare back, still feeling guilty about sentencing Tony to death, even if it was for the sake of the universe. "He's everyone's hero!"

"Toni saved the universe, too, but the only consequence is that she's stuck with the Soul Stone on one of the two smaller Infinity Gauntlets that refuse to separate from her hand and that she's now as immortal as me," the 'devil' replied, giving the other two Stranges an unconvinced look. "No death, no permanent injuries. Hell, not even lasting injuries from the 'Civil War'! How does JARVIS approve of you, again?"

"JARVIS?" Tony, Toni, Harley and even Fury and Natasha all echoed disbelievingly, the two geniuses looking shell-shocked at hearing their long since destroyed AI and greatest, dearest creation being so casually mentioned. Both visiting Stephens knew _something_ about the advanced AI that Ultron had nearly destroyed and had ended up being the foundation for Vision. "You still have _JARVIS_!?"

"Well, yeah," the vacationing woman replied casually, looking at them strangely. "Of course I do. J and FRI go with me everywhere ever since, well ... Ever since after that whole Mandarin thing. Would have been dead several times over by now without them or Stephen, like during that bombing of Vienna fiasco or the fight against Thanos, especially the Thanos part where the good Doctor is concerned. Had he not helped, the Avengers and who knows how many other lives would be _goners_. As it is, Stephen got to terrify the Avengers, acquire a new responsibility, show off and spank Thanos before sending him to a corner dimension for bad behavior." She then turned to her lover, frowning at him while ultimately completely ignoring the other Avengers. "Speaking of which, I _still_ have no idea what you did to the purple chin-nutsack beyond portalling him away when the Gauntlet was safely transferred to me. What did you do with him?"

"Turn him into dust?" The Sorcerer Supreme holding onto Morgan's hand suggested with a shrug.

"Trap him in the Dark Dimension?" The married Stephen also gave his suggestion, tickling Miracolo's stomach when he noticed his son's attention was completely trained on him and enjoying his delighted laughter that came as a result.

"What? No, of course not!" The black dressed Strange huffed at them. "I just tore him to itty bitty tiny pieces and threw them all into different dimensions ... While leaving him completely aware of all his limbs and what they're going through. What?" He asked when everyone, from his lover to his sorcerers to the visiting mixed group, just stared at him with disturbed expressions. "He deserves far worse!"

"Don't you think that's a little ... too much?" The Doctor Strange that had given up the Time Stone for Tony on Titan and ultimately doomed the man he'd come to love by raising one shaky finger at the genius in question as their last interaction before the man was revived by his alternate self asked the 'devil', who only glared hotly at him.

"If _you_ heard and felt on a soul deep level _Toni/Tony Stark_ call to you for help, _plead_ with you, no matter how angry or displeased with you she/he was before, how would _you_ react? Because I think I've been too mild on the sick fucker. No one messes with _my_ love." All three Starks looked between all three Stranges grim expressions and had to prevent themselves from giggling like schoolgirls when they all realized what their thoughts on the matter were and just how much they actually meant to their men.

"That aside," Natasha cut in, trying to steer them back on track. "You said you still have JARVIS. Does that mean there's no Vision here? Did Ultron happen? How did you keep JARVIS?"

"Easy," the genius replied, letting her hazel eyes glow that same Arc Reactor blue like married Toni's had, pointing at her head. "I simply used Extremis 3.0 after the whole Killian thing and that allowed me to keep almost all of JARVIS when Ultron tried to tear him apart and to pry him out of the Cradle when the Mind Stone tried to suck him into Vision. Viz is 100% his own person. Extremis keeps me forever connected with J and FRI and it also gives me enhanced strength, senses, durability and a super healing factor, all of which came in _damn_ handy when Rogers had the _nerve_ to smash the Arc Reactor of my suit. He _definitely_ deserved repulsors at 12% to the face. It also kept me alive against Thanos for long enough for me to try and call on Stephen."

"I used Extremis, too, but only _after_ the Siberia incident," the other Toni revealed, letting her own eyes shine blue. "It was too late for my first child and Extremis should have rendered me sterile, but somehow miracles _do_ happen," she said with a loving smile at her son and husband. "I only came to see this version of us that apparently does _magic_. Can you believe it?"

"Oh, this I have _got_ to see to believe," the Stark of this dimension agreed with an incredulous grin on her face.

"If only we could manage to land in the right dimension instead of just randomly skipping through alternate realities," Tony mused, looking down at the Gauntlet and nearly jumping out of his skin when the green eyed Stephen suddenly seemed to appear right in front of him. "Hey, easy there! I have a heart condition and no Extremis to deal with it!"

But he just smiled at the shorter man, somehow stealing his breath away. "Do you know how he feels? His aura? If so, I can help guide you in finding him and going straight to _his_ home dimension," the 'devil' Strange offered with a hand extended for the shorter man to take, looking up, uninterested, when Tony's Stephen stepped closer as if to intimidate him or ... whatever. The point was, Stephen wasn't leaving Tony alone with this guy. "You know, I won't try to _steal_ him or anything. I have my own lovely genius armored Avenger and I'm more than happy with her, even though it took us nearly a decade to get to this point. No need to be so ... possessive, although that might be the first action you've taken so far that I approve of."

"I'm not seeking your approval," one Strange told another. "And I don't _need_ to try to stake a claim that he's mine."

"Oh?" The immortal couple both looked intrigued by that and Stephen huffed, looking away, feeling a blush fighting to creep onto his face. "Do tell."

"He pretty much claimed me the second the other Tony brought him back in our dimension."

"Yep," the young Ms Stark beamed up at the sorcerers and her Daddy and his female alternate versions, popping the p in the end much like her father would. "He's officially part of the Stark-Potts family!"

"Uh, excuse _you_ , little lady," Tony interjected, tickling his daughter a bit before taking Stephen's shaky hand. "But it's the 'screwed up Stark-Potts- _Strange_ plus Avengers/Wakanda/Kamar-Taj family', if anyone's asking." Both Tonis looked intrigued by that while their significant others looked sort of _horrified_ at the beast that was unleashed upon that poor, _poor_ dimension. Both Stephens knew perfectly well how scary one Virginia Potts can be. Talk about a scary power family. "But that aside, we could really use a bit help. While this was fun and all, I'm going out in a guess that it's not exactly the smartest thing to, you know, mess with the funky multiverse thingy so getting to our destination with no more detours would be _delightful_." He looked a bit sheepish as he looked up at the oldest Strange - which was also debatable, since the other two Stranges had fought Dormammu on an endless time loop and had then viewed fourteen million six hundred and five possible futures with the Time Stone, so yeah ... - smiling a bit uncomfortably. "Though I don't know how he ... feels? His aura? I mean, I've literally only interacted with him for what could have been seconds in some colorful place I have no idea what it was supposed to be, though I think he called it the Infinity Realm, or the 'motherfucking dimension of teasing of poor genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropists' ... so, yeah, I don't think I am of much help."

"All of us who were brought back by that Stark were unconscious while our alternate selves were there," Loki supplied at the 'devil's' raised eyebrow, green eyes meeting green. This Loki was still by far older than this Stephen, but even he knew better than to try and attack _this_ Strange no matter how much he would like to torture the Strange that had sent him falling through an endless portal for almost half an hour. "We only briefly encountered that Stark when he plucked us from the realm of the dead and brought us back to life. I honestly thought it to be only a dream at first, but I know it was not."

"Is there _anyone_ here that knows magic that has been awake and aware around this alternate Tony Stark?"

"I have!" Thor, also pretty much back to his old self upon the return of at least his brother, happily exclaimed with pride, going as far as to puff up his chest. The black dressed Sorcerer Supreme just rolled his eyes, though, and continued searching until his eyes landed on his own alternate state.

"Have you?"

"Of course. He landed quite literally in my bed and caused an emotional breakdown and spent half a day with me and Peter before the Avengers arrived for him to yell at."

"Hey! Why are you ignoring me!?" Thor protested and the 'devil' rolled his green eyes.

"Because you're not the best sorcerer around and I need someone who can transfer the feeling of his aura to me so I can find him with the Eye of Agamotto and then transfer the location to Tony here," he gestured to the only male Stark, once again not counting Miracolo. "So he can portal us there."

"I guess that is fair, Infinite Beer Wizard." The blond Odinson nodded sagely and the Sorcerer Supreme just stared at him for a moment. Before anyone could blink, Thor was gone and a portal was closing where he once stood. The mixed group could only stare.

"What did you do that for!?" The incredulous Tony screeched, looking at the black dressed man with wide, startled eyes. The immortal Toni was just groaning in the background with this world's Wong.

The 'devil' just shrugged. "There was a time when he choked Toni and I never forgot, let alone forgave. Tell me that didn't happen in your world and I'll bring him right back and give him a bottomless beer pint glass and an apology." Tony went to open his mouth before shutting it, knowing it would be a lie. "That's what I thought."

"Why are you so ... _savage_ towards the Avengers?" Harley asked after a moment of silence, eyeing the man up and down. "It's almost low key but not really. It's practically undertoned in every sentence you say regarding them."

"I don't like them," Stephen replied, plain and simple. "Unlike you, I can sense and see their auras. I don't like what I feel/see and I don't like how they treat Toni. They've used her for far too long without a single word of thanks and then all stabbed her in the back when she was no longer useful to their own causes. And this is _nothing_ ," he said, gesturing at where Thor had once stood. At their doubtful glance, Toni chimed in with cheer and glee in her voice.

"Just a couple of days ago, after beating Thanos into the fucking ground - still don't like the punishment, though; where'd you even come up with that!? - at the debriefing meeting, he opened a rift that led to the Dark Dimension and had them fight his army of Mindless Ones until they were knocked out from all that negative energy. It was an entertaining meeting, though I'm no longer sure whether they were more freaked out by that or me accepting to date him."

The others just stared at them and the 'devil' Stephen just shrugged. "The ancient Egyptian god of chaos, Seth, chopped up his brother Osiris and scattered his remains across the lands. Since he's the closest connotation to the devil in their religion, I thought to accept the method as a somewhat suitable punishment for Thanos, despite thinking he deserved far worse." He shrugged again before looking at Tony and his Stephen. "So, are we doing this or not?"

"Not until you bring back my brother," Loki snapped and the Sorcerer Supreme just rolled his eyes and brought the blond back before extending a hand towards Tony's Stephen. That's when the only male/male Stark-Strange pair noticed that his hands weren't shaking at all and that his scars were almost invisible with how faded they were. Immortality, infinity power/power of a godlike creature/demon and three hundred years of healing will do that to you. Stephen was a bit envious of him. If his hands were stronger, he wouldn't have to worry about accidentally dropping Morgan when she jumped into his arms.

"There, he's back. Now, will you show me his aura?"

"Very well." And so the two touched palms, magic being exchanged between them in a show of sparks and pretty lights that had everyone 'ooh'ing and 'aaah'ing at the display of power and skill. It lasted only about twenty seconds before the former doctors pulled their hands back, the 'devil' nodding approvingly. "Can you find him?"

"Yes," the other replied with a smirk. "I'll show Tony in just a second. First, though," he started spinning his hand and a portal opened _without needing a sling ring_ in just one rotation of his hand and out tumbled none other than this world's Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America, dumbfounded to find himself surrounded by not one, bit _three_ Starks and Stranges all staring down at him with a weird mix of people surrounding them. "I felt something interesting in that dimension," he said by way of explanation when even his Toni looked at him as though he had grown a second head. "I wanted to see how he'd react and how he'll be reacted to." He gave them all his best innocent smile that had his Toni rolling her eyes at him.

"What is going on here!?" Rogers demanded, scrambling to his feet and looking at all the weird people. He rounded on the immortal Toni for answers immediately. "Who are those people? Do you have something to do with this? Does _he_!?" He pointed at the black dressed Strange, who only rolled his eyes at him. "Why am I here? And where have you _been_ , Toni!? You can't just disappear on a date and come to ... wherever the hell we are now without telling your team! And where the hell _are_ we!?"

"If you really want to compare it to the Dark Dimension, keep using that tone of voice with her and I'll gladly oblige you with a trip to Hell. Though it might be a one way ticket," the indigenous Sorcerer Supreme of this dimension threatened in a casual manner, as though he was talking about the weather, ignoring the looks the group that had started this journey was giving him. "What?"

"You need to chill out, dude, no matter how cool you are," Harley told him with a raised eyebrow, to which the man replied with one of his own. "Or not."

"To answer your more interesting question that no doubt everyone else is also wondering about," the oldest Sorcerer Supreme began. "I brought you here so you can join us in a trip to an alternate version of our own reality. I thought it might be entertaining."

"You can't just bring people along dimension hopping for your own amusement!" The married Stephen exclaimed, drawing Rogers' attention to him and his little family. Said ex neurosurgeon instinctively stepped in front of the mother of his child and said son, the Cloak around his shoulders bristling. Toni only rolled her eyes before looking towards her alternate version, who turned her attention to her as soon as she felt eyes on her.

"So, what are the chances you'll share your JARVIS with us?"

Tony looked greatly interested in that answer and possibility, too, but faltered, figuring her JARVIS wasn't exactly like his had been, given the gender difference between the creators. His Stephen saw his hesitance and sorrow and squeezed his free hands subtly while no one was watching. When the genius looked up at him, the doctor smiled at him. "The other Tony had JARVIS, too. I'm sure he'll be more than glad to help you get yours back, too."

And Tony beamed, excitement coloring his face and forgetting all about the Rogers still demanding answers. "Then what are we waiting for!? Let's go!" He turned to the 'devil' Sorcerer Supreme, who seemed supremely amused by his exuberance. "Chop, chop, Doc! All our answers are only one colorful hallway of magicy fuckery away!"

"Well, this just makes me even more curious about this Doctor Stark that actually practices the Mystic Arts," he snorted in amusement, extending his palm to Tony, gesturing for the genius to give him his gauntleted hand. The shorter man did so, maybe a bit more warily than he would with his Stephen - well, actually, a _lot_ more warily than he would his Stephen but that's neither here nor there nor is it the point - and watched as the sorcerer interlocked their fingers. "I'll guide you through it until you get a lock on the dimension we want. When you're sure you have it, just let go of my hand and open a portal. Just a simple thought should be enough. Concentrate on the sensation I am sending you and do your thing."

"That't it? No grave warnings, complicated explanations or dumbed down magical phrases?" The inventor asked suspiciously, seeing as how much complications his dimension's sorcerers had made in trying to explain how opening a portal worked. The new (in comparison to Dormammu) master of the Dark Dimension just smiled and gave him one last shrug.

"I've seen my Toni do some seriously impossible shit in my short eight years of knowing her. _Believe_ me when I tell you I am perfectly aware that no version of her should ever be underestimated. If there is one thing a person can rely on, it's that Toni/Tony Stark can do anything she/he sets her/his mind on."

"Like inventing time travel," Peter happily supplied, earning his group an interested stare from the power couple of this dimension. Peter sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck under the scrutiny. "It's, um, kind of a long story?"

The strangest Strange could only shake his head, amused. "Why am I not surprised?" He got a thoughtful look in his eyes as he considered Tony, eyes flitting between him and Rogers. Toni caught on to what he was thinking and called his name in a tone of voice full of warning.

"Don't even _think_ about it. He'd probably just fuck something up," the genius huffed and put her hands on her hips, cocking them to one side, leg tapping in the universal stance of female disapproval, especially towards a man. Stephen sighed long sufferingly but nodded to her in compliance, making Harley arch an eyebrow at the gesture. It was still Wong that beat him to the first comment, though.

"It would appear that, no matter the universe, you are always helplessly whipped for Stark." All Stranges turned towards the smirking sorcerer, only the Strange holding hands with Morgan trying to make excuses about viewing fourteen million futures doing that to a person. Married Stephen had known his Toni before the whole Thanos debacle while the immortal pair have had a peculiar relationship since after Afghanistan. That didn't change the fact that all three of them were putty in their own douchebag's hands, no matter the gender, relationship or the amount of time they'd known each other.

Tony just shook his head and grabbed a hold of the 'devil' Stephen's hand, drawing his attention back to the matter at hand. "Right," the sorcerer conceded, letting his magic reach out to the shorter man, making Tony stiffen when he saw the tendrils. Thankfully, the color didn't at all resemble Wanda's magic or even Loki's when he was using the scepter to mind control Clint, so he didn't freak out. His own Stephen's comforting hand on his shoulder and Morgan's little fingers gripping his free ones also served to calm him and he took a deep breath, trying to reach out to the other like the two Stranges had moments ago. He at first flinched when the Infinity Stones seemed to lash out at the black clad Stephen due to his own uneasy with the situation, but Stephen took it in Stride and carefully coaxed the energies into a sort of compliance so that both they and their wielder could get the information needed to locate his alternate, apparently sorcerer self. As images crawled into his mind, he struggled not to wince or pull away from the man, leaning heavily on his own Sorcerer Supreme and locking his eyes on Peter and Harley when they seemed to notice his reaction, coming closer as if to help. Just seeing them and feeling his daughter squeeze his hand had him calming down and accepting the images he was getting.

The colorful portal's opening surprised them all with how sudden it was, practically bursting into existence. Some of the surrounding sorcerers jumped, mandala shields snapping into place. Both female Starks' eyes glowed Arc Reactor blue and their nanotech armor surged into place. Romanoff and Fury had guns out in a second, eyes trained on the colorful rift. The other two Stephen's just clenched their fists, refraining from lashing out when they knew the portal won't cause harm. Rogers was freaking out, but no one had the mind to check on him, even the original visiting group that appeared the be the only ones actually okay with the man.

'Devil' Stephen just smiled. "Color me impressed, though I've always known you would be able to do it."

"So it leads straight into that other Man of Iron's dimension?" Thor asked cautiously, not wanting to go on another endless portal trip. He could finally understand why Loki had been so pissed off when Strange had done it to him.

"Yep," the man replied, letting go of Tony and offering his hand up for his lover with a bow at the waist like a true gentleman. "Dr Stark, if you would honor me with an interdimensional dance?"

Toni snorted as Rogers fumed, easily accepting the outstretched hand and letting Stephen actually pull her into a waltz as they headed straight for the portal, passing through before anyone else could react.

"I want to dance, too!" Morgan proclaimed, pulling away from her father and favorite sorcerer to jump into Wong's arms. Wong, the sap, only smiled and started dancing with her in a decent waltz. The married Toni and Stephen exchanged a look before maneuvering Miracolo into the Cloak's secure hold before they followed the grumpy librarian and the immortal couple into the portal with a much more elegant posture than the giggling Morgan and Wong. Harley, with a shrug and a teasing grin, pulled Peter along as the two practically-brothers followed, the spider themed hero yelping the entire time about being a bad dancer. Thor wasted no time in hauling Loki into a dance as well, completely ignoring all of his death threats and demands to be released, twirling his brother around and through the portal like a pro and with a grace he usually lacked. Eyeing everyone with a grumble, Fury accepted Natasha's silent invitation, starting a waltz themselves, much to Tony's astonishment since he had thought he'd _never_ see Fury dance.

"FRIDAY, are you getting all of this?"

"Sure am, Boss. It's all going into File: BLACKMAIL as we speak."

"Good girl," the genius said with a smile, though he looked a bit concerned when Goose let his true self show to chase Steve into the portal. "Should we help him?" He asked his companion, worried about the alternate version of his friend even if he seemed to be a colossal ass-hath everywhere outside their own dimension.

"Nah," the Wong of this dimension waved him off, unconcerned. "It's probably a far more merciful fate than Stephen would grant him. That man just doesn't know when to shut up." All the Sorcerers of Kamar-Taj nodded sagely at this, making the two goatee geniuses exchange a look. That didn't bode well if the alternate Tony had some serious issues with the man. As if reading their minds, Wong walked up to them and patted their shoulders in sympathy. "Well, good luck! And remind Strange that he can't hog Stark all to himself all the time!" He called over his shoulder as he started walking away, in the direction of the library.

It left the two men standing awkwardly in front of the portal, still quite a bit shocked by everything that was happening so far. Then, Stephen decided to follow in his alternates' footsteps and offered a hand to Tony, silently asking for a dance. Iron Man looked at him in surprise before those expressive brown eyes he had at one point thought he'll never get to gaze upon ever again softened and the genius inventor took the doctor's hand. They came together with an ease that was practically practiced and followed after all of their companions, dancing to a tune no one could hear, through the portal and into the hallway. The other dancers were also enjoying the play of light, Morgan's giggling and Miracolo's shrieks of delight being the music for their ears. The other two Stark-Strange pairs were already bantering between themselves, creating an immensely calming atmosphere. Tony and Stephen relaxed, not even looking up when Rogers screamed and ran two circles around them as Goose chased after him or the roaring insults and demands of the God of Mischief that sounded quite halfhearted even to their ears.

Stephen couldn't stop his heart from practically _begging_ to go to the man in his arms, wondering what he had done to deserve this last chance that the other Tony had given him. He had never thought he could have Tony Stark. Viewing fourteen million six hundred and five futures with the man had made him unwittingly give his heart to the other and had broken it to pieces all at the same time when it had become clear to him that he couldn't have the man as his own. He was already with Pepper Potts. He was already destined to die for the survival of the universe. He was already out of Stephen's reach. But apparently he had done _something_ right and got this chance to be with Tony. He still couldn't believe that Pepper was more than happy to share Tony with him.

_"Why wouldn't I be? You have_ no idea _how much he talked about you over the years, Stephen. Say what you will, it's not going to change either of our minds and Morgan already_ adores _her friend doctor wizard 'Steph',"_ Virginia Stark had said with a fond twinkle in her eyes when Stephen had tried to assure her that he'll talk Tony out of his silly proposal of somehow making it a three-way relationship between them and had apologized for intruding in their life. _"Face it, Doctor Strange. You're stuck with us. Welcome to the family."_

He had never had a family before, even long before he was a doctor, and especially not one like he did now. And it was all thanks to the wonderful man in his arms and the alternate version of him that had granted them this last chance. The sorcerer Tony had been right. They had all needed to help pick up the pieces when the elation of being brought back to life had worn off. The first few days had been the roughest and Tony had refused to let go of his ever growing family. Nebula, despite desperate to go search for her sister, had also been unwilling to leave Tony alone for three weeks. Tony had a few more nightmares to add to his ever growing list, but he declared everything was worth it.

Stephen vowed to never let the man suffer again.

They both yelped, along with pretty much everyone else, when the tunnel suddenly spat them out on its own, unlike the last two times. They all pretty much landed in a heap on the floor of what looked to be the common room of what some of them recognized to be the Stark Tower, connected to a big kitchen and bar, where they could see none other than Tony Stark trying to have a morning coffee, now staring at them with the mug halfway to his lips. He looked at them, back to his cup, at them again and then at his left hand, where they could see the all too familiar glint of gold and six Infinity Stones.

"Oh, for _fuck's_ sake!"


	2. Chapter 2

"Oh, for _fuck's_ sake!" Vice Sorcerer Supreme Tony Stark, groaned loudly upon seeing them, inspecting the Infinity Stones in their possession before slamming the poor mug of coffee on the counter, head turning in the direction of the rooms half a story up. "Stephen!"

"Wasn't me!" They were all surprised to hear the said man call back from ... somewhere, the response sounding almost practiced with the ease and boredom it immediately came. The visiting mixed group exchanged a look, unsure what to make of this, but the other Tony was already moving on.

"Loki!"

"I am busy, Stark! I have no time for foolishness!" The response surprised the younger Asgardian, making him and Thor exchange a look and then arch both eyebrows when the next name was called.

"Thor!"

"It was not me, Friend Stark! I am trying to convince the Infinite Beer Wizard to teach me how to do his most powerful trick!"

"Infinite mead is _not_ powerful magic, brother!" The other Loki groaned at the other Thor's thickness, the visiting pair speechless at such easy interaction. They might have gotten especially close after the whole final revival thing but that didn't mean all of their old disputes have been handled.

"Vision?"

"Would I ever do something to deserve such a tone?" The android phased through the ceiling to look at his creator, freezing upon seeing the sprawled group, eyes going wide.

"Fair enough," Tony shrugged, hesitating for a second. "Nebula?"

"Are you insinuating that I'd be dumb enough to do something one of the boys would?" The cyborg answered somewhere behind them and they all gulped when they turned around to see the dangerous glint in her eyes when looking at them. This did not bode well for them. Not at all.

"Good point. I can't believe I'm about to even suggest this, but JARVIS, buddy?" Tony rubbed at his face in a tired, exasperated manner as he asked, the name easily slipping past his lips with no sorrow or bitterness or loss.

"I am highly offended, Sir," came the immediate response from hidden speakers, the British, sophisticated voice, indeed sounding indignant, making Tony and mother Toni teary-eyed as they heard it for the first time in _years_ when not coming from Vision. Stephen squeezed Tony's hand in reassurance, not sure the other even registered it, that's how shocked the genius was. "You know very well that I strive to prevent anything that might delay your sleep or meals and I do believe a situation like this is right in that category. I will pretend you haven't suggested otherwise."

"I had to ask. You know I always ask my Ambassadors first," Iron Man replied with a huff before going right back to yelling. "Richards!"

"I've been good!"

"I can confirm that!" A male and then a female voice replied, followed by snickers throughout the Tower, leaving the sprawled Avengers from three different universes to just exchange more weird glances between them at all these strange interactions.

"Oh for the love of- Peter! You better tell me you, Harley and Shuri aren't messing with Reed's things! Or Heimdall's! Or Jane's and Selvig's!"

"It's not us, Mr Stark!"

" ... Wong?" There came no reply, apparently Wong not even dignifying that with a response, and Tony sighed tiredly. "I'll take that as a no. Damn it. Can you guys at _least_ tell me it's the Silver Surfer's or Galactus' fault? Because I can deal with that." At the look all of them were giving him, Tony cursed under his breath. "Well, fuck me! Can't I have _one_ normal day off, just for me, myself and I - and my bots - _without_ the world somehow being put in jeopardy?! What is it this time?"

"Actually," the 'devil' Stephen replied, apparently the fist one recovered from their unexpected tumble. Although it was just as likely that nothing could phase him anymore. He _was_ supposedly the 'devil', not that the sorcerer Tony knew that so far. "This isn't a business trip. It's _all_ pleasure."

"My flirting senses are tingling," this world's Harley Keener said as he and a bunch of other kids made their way into the room, standing by Vision as they surveyed the visiting group with open curiosity and suspicion. The Peter Parker of this dimension was pouting beside him at the teasing remark, two other, unfamiliar teens snickering on either side of the enhanced teenager. "What happened here? Who opened a rift between dimensions _this_ time?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out!"

"This time?" All three Sorcerer Surpemes asked a bit incredulously. "You mean to tell me this happens _often_?" The married Stephen asked, eyeing the Infinity Gauntlet - no matter how dissimilar it might be to the one Thanos had used - with suspicion, wary of the glinting Infinity Stones that adorned it.

The Vice Sorcerer Supreme gave him a very particular look that was as pointed as one of Loki's knives. "I take it you're from one of the more sheltered dimensions where your kickass girlfriend is always there to save your ass if you're asking a question like that."

"I'm afraid I can't deny it, though I have to correct you," the father Stephen replied, looking lovingly at his Toni. "It's not my kickass girlfriend that's always saving my ass, it's my kickass _wife_."

Shuri and the other unknown girl squealed loudly enough for all the enhanced people in the room to wince, including the new Tony Stark participating in this particular dimension hopping adventure. Vision looked both intrigued a horrified at the notion of a 'stepfather' in Strange, which had the sorcerer Tony looking somewhere between panic and amusement. Though that might be more due to the obvious fangirling taking place as the girls looked at Iron Man with practically sparkling eyes.

"Shuti, Kamala, _no_."

"Shuri, Kamala _yes_!" The two intoned, grinning at the man who took a step back, as if the man who bears the title of (Vice) Sorcerer Supreme was scared of two little girls. Morgan and the visiting Peter and Harley just watched in fascination as their father (figure)/mentor inched away from the teenage girls, not really sure how to react.

"We should put out a petition for them to have a public wedding!" The Princess of Wakanda excitedly suggested and all the males of this dimension paled, possibly at the thought of all the preparations and the clothing hunt they'd have to go through, especially if their significant others/best female friends got involved. And both Tonys were aware they had _a lot_ of very close female friends, the sorcerer Tony perhaps more so since he'd had more time to prepare for the Thanos mess and he'd pulled in a lot more people under his wing.

"We could have a public vote on social medias to get the people's opinion on the theme their wedding should have!"

"It would obviously take place in Wakanda-"

"Hey! Kamar-Taj is a _far_ more suitable wedding location for them!"

"Peter!" The betrayed genius snapped, turning incredulous eyes on his protégé, who looked both sheepish and not quite enough. The not-sorcerer Tony recognized it as Harley's influence and groaned. He felt sympathy for his alternate self and wondered for how long the other had had to deal with this. And he was being ganged up alone! Against _women_! Stark's experiences so far in life have taught him to _never_ try to oppose women when they set their minds to something.

"I totally agree," the indigenous Harley of this dimension said with a grin. "They're both Sorcerer Supremes, after all."

" _Vice_ Sorcerer Supreme, thank you very much and thank the Vishanti for that! I don't have the _time_ to deal with all that bullshit on _top_ of dealing with the Silver Surfer constantly trying to bring me to Galactus prematurely just because the big baby is hungry and lazy enough not to search for the nearest planet on the dead end of the universe!" The genius ranted, his three alternate selves arching an eyebrow at his plight and exchanging an incredulous look between them. _That_ was not what any of them had expected. The three Stranges hadn't, either, though the married Strange looked the most perplexed by all of this _despite_ him being the one that did most of the dimension hopping ... Or at least as far as _they_ were concerned. The master of all of Dormammu's power and conquered realms hadn't exactly been forthcoming regarding what _he_ did when he was away from his better half. Though maybe it's for the best that they _don't_ know, considering the moniker he both hates and likes to carry. "Though I'm becoming more and more tempted to see what would happen if I sicked Dormammu on Galactus to stop all those annoyances of his from constantly ruining my _days off_."

"Tony, don't even _joke_ about that," they all almost jumped out of their skins - again, besides the seemingly unflappable 'devil', who seems to have already sensed the other's approach long before he appeared before them - as the Doctor Stephen Vincent Strange indigenous to this reality said as he approached his Tony, sparing an intrigued glance at the mixed group and a glare at Natasha and Steve, only one of whom was surprised by such behavior directed at them. Rogers was more than used to being glared at by Toni's eccentric doctor friend who had turned out to be the most powerful sorcerer to ever grace their home universe but Natasha _wasn't_ used to it since she only knew Strange for a couple of months and he had been sarcastic with her at worst. Morgan, on the other hand, looked _delighted_ upon seeing how many different versions of her favorite person besides her parents were surrounding her, smiling with glee as she studied each variation. Little Miracolo, though, had already fallen asleep in the Cloak's embrace, content in the presence of his parents. "You know what-"

"-has to happen in order for the multiverse to continue functioning as it should, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know," the genius inventor grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest, where the Arc Reactor glowed contentedly from his chest. "Doesn't mean I - or the Stones, for that matter - like it any more than if it _wasn't_ mandatory for it to happen." He paused, considering the robed sorcerer. "You think the multiverse would mind us sending the _Silver Surfer_ to annoy and be annoyed by Dormammu?"

" _Tony_ ," the former neurosurgeon turned Sorcerer Supreme sighed in exasperated fondness, but was interrupted from whatever he was going to say when his 'devil' version spoke up.

"If it is Dormammu who is your problem, I can always take care of him for you." Both co-leaders of the Sorcerers of Kamar-Taj turned to look at him incredulously, taking in his outfit and his aura, neither quite sure what to make of him from where he was standing beside a female Stark with what was obviously an Infinity Gauntlet and the Soul Stone on her left hand. He just shrugged under their scrutiny. "I've dealt with mine."

"How?" Both geniuses drew it out with suspicion, exchanging a loaded look that all the other Stark-Strange pairs recognized it as what it was. Despite asking the question, it was very clear that they seemed to be rather _very_ aware, if not _perfectly_ , of what the answer was going to be. The green eyed man just smiled.

"I sucked Dormammu dry until there was nothing left." For some reason, both male/male Stark-Strange pairs chocked on their own breath, both Peters' and Harleys' eyes widened, Shuri was howling with laughter and Kamala was giggling as Vision frowned in confusion while Rogers, of all people, was spluttering in patriotic offense, which actually drew Stark's attention to him for the first time. Despite his own attempts to calm his embarrassment at the double meaning his 'devil' alternate had made, Stephen from the dimension that had nearly collapsed in on itself was the first to notice the way his entire body went from relaxed to taunt in the blink of an eye, all amusement and every other emotion leaving his eyes as he gazed upon the man. Stephen himself grew tense when he saw that the man's hands were clenched into tight fists, magic and the energy of the Infinity Stones starting to surround his right and left hand respectively.

"Sexual innuendos aside," the Sorcerer Supreme of this dimension shot the offended black dressed version of himself a disgruntled and very pointed look at all the kids present - while his Toni was trying to explain to him subtly just _why_ everyone was reacting the way they were - interjected with a glance shot at the man by his side, looking around them for a brief moment as Thor and Loki came down from wherever they had been before turning back to the pair he recognized from when he had retrieved his Tony from their dimension. "Why are you here? I rather doubt this is an interdimensional social call."

"Not with the accessories you lot are sporting," the Chosen Contender replied while crossing his arms, very pointedly not looking in Rogers' or even Romanoff's direction while doing silent and subtle breathing exercises. "Seriously, I have to seal the Infinity Stones now just to prevent the multiverse from collapsing in on itself! Two Soul Stones and Time Stones and one more than should be Space, Reality and Power Stones! Do you guys have _any_ idea how much work you've just brought up for me and Stephen?"

"You've been in our dimension without repercussions," Thor dared to point out and ended up on the receiving end of ten very 'wtf' looks directed at him by the five Ambassadors of Infinity, four teens and one Contender.

"Uh, didn't Mr Stark say your dimension was, like, quite literally falling apart when he was dumped into it to save it?" Peter asked, looking towards his mentor for confirmation.

"Not to mention it was for hardly a few hours that it took us to take care of the Silver Surfer and locate Antony in the multiverse," Loki snorted, looking at his counterpart's brother as though he couldn't believe they were not-related. "The presence of another Gauntlet wouldn't even start to affect your world."

"Also," Stephen interjected, putting a calming hand on his Tony's shoulder when it seemed that the blond supersoldier had zeroed in on him and his tense posture. "Due to his connection to them, the Infinity Stones act in Tony's stead if he's ever incapable of doing something himself. A precaution for safety reasons, which are _many_. Not to mention he was unconscious at the time with only the Ambassador of Soul to watch over him. We are lucky that the Stones haven't reacted themselves, especially given the dimension he ended up in." A collective shudder ran through the Ambassadors of Infinity at the thought of a world so torn apart by Thanos' actions and Tony's death. The visiting Stephen had to share the sentiment with them. He had suffered through the pain of losing Tony and had hated himself every second of it.

"Wait just a second," the Loki that had been dead for five years interrupted whatever continuation the conversation was about to have, cutting in like one of his knives. "You said he had the _Ambassador or Soul_ with him and yet everyone has told us that you lot all arrived to get him only _after_ we've been revived, which leaves us with quite a few hours in which Stark should have been alone. Where was this Ambassador of Infinity you speak of?"

"He asked JARVIS," the mother Toni pointed out, swallowing thickly around the name of her greatest creation. "He said he always asked his Ambassadors first. He asked JARVIS before moving on to others."

"Are you saying his _computer_ is in some way connected to one of the Infinity Stones?!" Steve asked incredulously, not noticing how every Ambassador of Infinity, ever kid and especially Tony himself stiffened at the sound of his voice. " _Please_! That's just _ridiculous_! It's a machine, it doesn't have a soul!"

Every Stark looked either pissed as all hell or like they had been punched in the gut, in the not-sorcerer Tony's case. Their respective Stephens ranged from indignant to murderous, though you couldn't tell whether the 'devil' or the Ambassador of Time was more pissed off - though the more dangerous of the two was definitely the former. What came as a true surprise and delight to all that seemed to hate Rogers was when orange light suddenly surrounded Rogers, leaving him motionless and seemingly in pain as the Soul Stone on sorcerer Tony's Gauntlet gleefully glinted. "Would you like to test that theory, Mr Rogers?" Came the ominous, not-so-low-key threatening tone of the AI in question, making every version of his creator feel warmth in their chests, even the not married Toni who still had her own JARVIS. "Because I _assure_ you, I am one of the best connected Ambassadors of the six."

"Comes with the turf of being the Chosen Contender's greatest creation," chimed in this world's FRIDAY, pride in her 'older brother' obvious in the tone of voice she used. Harley grinned in glee while Tony could only shake his head, trying to hide his smile and not appear too proud or approving of JARVIS' actions lest he encourage more of this behavior.

"Okay, this is getting ridiculous!" Fury suddenly exclaimed, pushing his way through the other visitors to stand in front of the paralyzed Captain America, glaring at the sorcerer Iron Man with his one eye. "I've _had_ it with every Stark I meet acting like a child who's been denied their favorite toy. Either give me _one_ good reason why all of your alternate versions except the Stark I personally know seem to _hate_ Rogers or back off and grow up! People can't go about their lives catering to your ego!"

"One good reason, you say?" The Vice Sorcerer Supreme didn't seemed all that much moved or bothered by Fury's display, giving the head of SHIELD a disinterested once over. The father Tony nearly flinched in pity for Fury when he noticed the nanotech housing that is the Arc Reactor glow brighter and give an almost unnoticeable shudder, a sure sign it was moments away from being used. Mother Toni looked exasperated while immortal Toni seemed disappointed in the black dressed spy somehow. "Where should I start? Something personal, like, oh I don't know, _hiding the truth about the death of my parents and then trying to kill me when I punched their murderer_? Or should we be a bit more upscale? Like letting a _willing HYDRA agent and Ultron's right hand woman onto the Avengers team_ despite _what she'd done to us, like, a couple of days previous_? Or maybe up tge game by a few more notches? I mean, why not, right? Like destroying public and private property for the sake of _one man and his own damned pride_? But that's not all! Oh no, not by a _long_ shot!" Fury actually backed away a few steps when Stark's eyes turned Arc Reactor blue and his armor tried to bleed into place all of his body, the Gauntlet slowly lighting up with the energy of the Infinity Stones and even magic wiping around him. "You want a good enough reason why I should let my Ambassadors or _anyone_ treat him like trash? Well, I hope _taking down the worldwide defensive shields Stark Industries, Wakanda and Latveria put in place to prevent_ any _entity from coming to Earth without our explicit permission just because he thinks 'the best hands are our own' when the entire_ fucking _planet agreed, from ordinary humans to politicians to enhanced and mutants and Inhumans to_ fucking _sorcerers and aliens, leaving Earth wide open for an attack we_ all _knew was coming and we were_ preparing and protecting against _because we knew how to best deal with it and even_ trusted _him with the protection of our world_ counts as a fucking goddamned good enough reason to treat _any_ alternate Steven Grant Rogers with reservation, so either _you_ give _me_ one good reason to stand up for him or _fuck off_."

"No," Natasha immediately denied the claims, shaking her head while the rest all just ... _gawked_ at the information just dumped on them. For one, Morgan, Peter and Harley had never even known Steve Rogers had lied to their father (figure) about his parents and nearly killed him in Siberia in the wake of Tony's rage. For another, not even Natasha or Fury had known that, either, which was saying something. Stephen and Wong just exchanged horrified glances before both sorcerers turned towards their Tony Stark, concerned for his well being. The Stephens and Tonis from the other universes didn't seem all that much surprised by these facts, but they were reeling from the implications of Rogers' stupidity to _actually_ cripple Earth's defenses so much as such a critical point, as were Loki and Thor. The 'devil' Stephen looked the least bit surprised by it all, but only a blind man wouldn't be able to see the magic crackling between faintly scarred fingers and the rage burning in green eyes.

All Ambassadors of Infinity, despite knowing about all of this, still looked murderous at the mere mention of it.

"What do you mean by 'no'?" Nebula asked in a menacing voice, taking a step closer to Tony, as though to be his protection, glaring daggers at her Earthly female assassin counterpart.

"No, as in, there is no way Steve Rogers would do that. I know him. He'd never do something like that," the Russian spy insisted and the Ambassador of Space snorted, the younger Asgardian crossing his arms over his chest.

"Oh, _you_ know him. Well, _that's_ a relief! Because we _all_ know that the Black Widow is such a _good_ judge of character," Loki plastered a smile on his face, green eyes focused on Natasha. "After all, her evaluation of someone has _never_ been _wrong_ before, right?"

"What do you speak of, Loki?" The visiting, still fat Thor asked, half challenging in defense of his fellow Avenger and half confused by the behavior. "And you shall not speak with Lady Black Widow in such a manner. She gave up her _life_ to help us retrieve the Soul Stone so we may restore the half of all life that has been killed in the Snap."

"Well, maybe _she_ did, but the Black Widow of this universe is an international criminal who's serving her sentence somewhere in Russia by now, I believe," replied the black haired Asgardian with a huff. "Until your Black Widow proves she deserves my respect, I will keep my reservations about her and _especially_ her ability to judge character."

"You've still not answered his question," the visiting Leufeyson replied when it became obvious nothing else will be said. "What is it that you speak of? Whose character has she misjudged?"

"The character of the most important person in the multiverse several times over," replied the Sorcerer Supreme in the Prince of Asgard's stead, arching an eyebrow when all he got was blank expressions in return. The Cloak of Levitation, though, took it upon itself to clear up his master's meaning, wrapping a fold around the Vice Sorcerer Supreme's Gauntlet covered hand and making him hold it up as if he were a schoolboy asking for his teacher's attention. Tony let it, just breathing out an exasperated sigh, especially when some people's - mostly his own alternate versions' - eyes nearly popped out of their heads when they registered the meaning and implications behind all of this. "The Chosen Contender is the one who will ultimately help shape the next iteration of the universe and that person is Tony Stark."

"That's actually why we're here," the Stephen if the original group that had started off on this journey jumped in at the offered chance to get some actual answers before another semi-argument could begin. "The whole Chosen Contender and Ambassadors of Infinity deal. You've tried explaining it to us before," he said, turning to the sorcerer Stark, who nodded. "But you were in a rush and rather agitated at the state of our universe so I don't think you explained it as effectively as you could have. If you wouldn't mind doing so again, we'd greatly appreciate it."

"And if you could, you know, give me tips on how to deal with this thing constantly stuck on my hand," the other male Tony added in with a wave of his own Gauntleted hand to show what he meant. "That would be awesome, too."

The two sorcerers running Kamar-Taj of this universe exchanged a look between them, then with the other Ambassadors of Infinity, before they shrugged and Strange transported them, minus a very indignant group of teenagers indigenous to this world, to one of the meeting rooms in Stark Tower, making both Thors stumble, although the long haired one threw up in a nearby potted plant because he still drank too much beer even when he now had Loki to pull him out of his misery over the loss og theur family, home world and half of their people. The 'devil' Stephen gave him a mildly disgusted look and just vanished the entire potted plant before it could stink up the room. Morgan looked beyond fascinated by the shift, holding onto an equally amazed Peter's and Harley's hands. The rest followed this world's residents in taking a seat at the long table, Stephen and Tony sharing the head as they surveyed their guests.

"Okay," the sorcerer Stark began with a deep breath. "The most important things you need to know is as follows: there are millions upon countless billions of versions of the universe that exist at the same time and people usually call this the multiverse, although the truth of the matter is that there are just as many versions of the _multiverse_ as well. At the center of it all are several certain constants that _never_ change in _any_ variation of the multiverse and those are the Infinity Stones, their two Contenders and _Galactus_ , the being that destroys and shapes every variation. Thanos may _think_ he's inevitable," he said to his only male alternate present, who grimaced at the reminder of what could have so easily been the last words spoken in their universe. "But it's only _Galactus_ that truly is. The Infinity Stones, as you all know, have _infinity power_ stored in them that is used to rebuild every next variation. Galactus needs this power when the current variation is dying so he can restart the Big Bang and everything can be set into motion once again. But upon the Big Bang, the Infinity Stones are scattered across the virgin universe, creating life and whatnot. They all need to eventually be collected and kept in one place for Galactus to come and pick up, but, as you all no doubt know, they're almost impossible to contain or control. Which is why the universe created two Contenders who hold an affinity for all six Infinity Stones, meant to collect the Stones and keep them safe for Galactus. The Ambassadors of Infinity are twelve individuals, six for each Contender, meant to help share this burden, to protect the Contenders if it were ever to happen that the Contenders can't protect themselves. That's about the gist of it, really."

"If you want to know more details, you can always just go to the author's other story, Endgame, and read the _much_ better explanation there!" The entire group gathered in the meeting room jumped in surprise when a man in a red and black spandex full body suit and mask with two katanas strapped to his back banged open the door and exclaimed at the top of his lungs in an overly cheerful voice. "It's all very complicated and very messy but apparently fun to read, so just go to that story, chapters-" And a sparkling ring of magic opened underneath him and swallowed him whole before he could continue rambling more spoilers.

"Who the hell was that?" Questioned an incredulous Wong, still staring at the space through which the strange man had disappeared through.

"Deadpool," all six Ambassadors of Infinity answered while Tony just sighed, explaining. "He's a mutant Charles is trying to pull under his proverbial wing. Real name is Wade Wilson, former mercenary for hire, technically _still_ a mercenary for hire, been tricked into becoming a test subject and ended up becoming a mutant, has a healing factor that makes Wolverine's seem like a joke, practically immortal, really, and one of his super powers seems to be that he's aware of the existence of the 'forth wall' or whatever and the world beyond it, which is why he's sometimes talking like he's narrating a movie, but don't mind him. He's not exactly harmless, he has a potty mouth but he's a good guy at heart, just a bit rude and blunt. He's been actively helping Peter out on the streets for two and a half years now. He's a headache, but he's also a part time member of the New Avengers. He scandalizes Cap, which is always a good bonus, too, so, yeah ... " He finished with a shrug at their continued incredulous stares. Only the parents Stark-Strange seemed to understand his plight and gave him sympathetic looks. "So, moving on ... "

"How did you revive me?" Loki jumped in, choosing not to dwell on the strangeness of humans any longer lest his brain break. "And I don't mean _me_ me, but him me," he said, pointing at the Loki dressed in a business suit, who arched an eyebrow at the inelegant speech. "Thanos had him as strangled as he had me. Neither of us disappeared in the so called Snap. How is he alive?"

"Uh," the Vice Sorcerer Supreme slowly raised his hand in time with the arch of his eyebrow as he showed off the Infinity Stones, looking as though the answer should be painfully obvious.

"We had the Stones, too, but we couldn't bring back those who Thanos killed or Lady Natasha, who sacrificed her life for the Soul Stone," Thor informed them and sorcerer Tony snorted, crossing his arms and looking truly offended.

"Um, at the risk of sounding like a condescending, arrogant dick, I _am_ going to point out that I'm _me_ and you guys are _you_ , who nearly left your entire universe to collapse in on itself and maybe even damage the neighboring universes and the entire _multiverse_ while you were at it." He shrugged, looking down at the glinting Stones on his hand. "I'm guessing that not having Extremis or any knowledge of magic actually left your me completely vulnerable to the pull of the Infinity Stones and they managed to keep him in the Infinity Realm, from where I guided him back from when I revived you lot. Stephen and Wong have been teaching me magic for months before the Gauntlet was not so gently slapped onto my hand and then Stephen quite literally transferred all of his knowledge as Sorcerer Supreme to help me control the Stones. I was ready to tell them 'Screw you' if it had to be done in order to return to the realm of the living, but luckily, they were willing to let me go back without us getting into any arguments or whatever. We're the best of buddies now."

"Are you insinuating you _talk_ with the Stones, Stark?" Fury asked in a skeptical tone, staring at the man in bewilderment.

"Not _talk_ , specifically ... " He began but trailed off with a shrug.

"The Infinity Stones have a certain type of sentience to them that most beings overlook," the Stephen Strange sitting beside sorcerer Stark replied as his companion trailed off, drawing attention to himself. "As the Keeper and protector of the Time Stone and as the first person to truly use its power since perhaps Agamotto himself, I have become aware of it rather early on. Mordo, whom you must know by now, had already brought to our attention that the Infinity Stones have preferences and that Tony Stark was one of them. No mortal man should ever come into contact with as many Infinity Stones as Tony has even _before_ the true battle for them began. They resonated for him, declaring _him_ the preferred Contender for their power. Only a sentient being can make such choices and have preferences. Why should it surprise you that they have their own way of communication?"

"It doesn't. Not me, anyway," the visiting Loki shrugged, ignoring the looks his group shot him. "I've had the Tesseract rather long in my possession and have even experienced the Mind Stone's power myself-"

"Pay up, asshole."

"We are _not_ betting on the differences within the variations of the multiverse, duchebag!"

The Asgardian mage looked rather irritated as the immortal Toni shot her 'devil' companion a pointed look and the married couple also shared a weighted gaze between them, but he continued in as calm a voice as he could manage. "So I am well informed that they are aware of their surroundings and the people that handle them."

"And Jane _was_ protected, somewhat, by the Reality Stone as it protected itself from me," Thor also added in with a thoughtful hum.

The 'devil' just sighed in exasperation at them all. He had felt the Stones' sentience the second he had appeared to protect Toni from them. The Time Stone was rather curious about him ever since he became its keeper, always pulling at his more mystical senses in hopes of getting his attention and properly studying him. However, he felt no need to share any of this with anyone present besides his lover and that could wait _after_ they got back to their home dimension. "I rather thought it would be obvious, given that two Intelligences were created using the Stones, well, Mind Stone specifically, but it's no less an Infinity Stone than any of the rest."

"I don't think that's something to brag about," Rogers began but three out of four Stark-Strange pairs scuffed.

"Well, it's a good thing no one asked _you_ ," Nebula was the one to shoot him down, glaring daggers at the blond supersoldier in clear distaste. "Why is he here again?" She asked the female version of her first friend with only the Soul Stone on her hand and Toni could only sigh, pointing at her lover.

"He wanted to antagonize him," the woman grumbled and Nebula watched the man in question smirk almost lovingly at the Iron Maiden, however impossible that sounded. "I just thought it wasn't worth wasting my breath to convince him otherwise." Most of the gathered group turned to look at the 'devil' Stephen incredulously, but he only shrugged, smirk turning edgier now that it wasn't directed at his lover.

"What can I say? I _really_ don't like Rodgers. Hell, I don't even _tolerate_ his _existence_ , let alone breathing the same air as him." When the blond in question went to retort to that, the visiting Loki once again jumped in with a far more interesting and significantly more important question.

"Why did you revive us? Besides Tony Stark," he added when the Vice Sorcerer Supreme looked ready to throw a sarcastic comment regarding his intelligence at him for such a dumb question considering what he had just explained. "I mean, I don't think Black Widow, Vision or even myself to be nearly as important, even if the android and I might be our world's Ambassadors of Infinity."

"Romanoff's probably also one, all things considered, if she feels a pull to the Soul Stone or it reacts to her," the sorcerer Tony commented first before answering Loki's question. "What can I say? I know loss. I researched your world through both Infinity Stones, magic and the Internet. I saw what each of you did, how and why you died, how your deaths were affecting the people around you. Let's just say that I decided that, for once, there can be a real happy ending in store for _everyone_. And if it saved an entire universe a lot of grief in the process? Not to mention saving it from almost immediate extinction and collapse? _Bonus_."

When the black haired Asgardian looked ready to ask something else, the father Tony jumped in. "Moving on to questions _not_ regarding funky magic tricks," he got a few eye rolls for that, even a smirk from his only male alternate self currently present. "And onto a _much_ more important topic." He took a deep breath and hesitantly stepped away from his family and friends, closer to the other Iron Man. He lifted a hand and placed it over the other's Arc Reactor and everyone held their breath, wondering what he was going to ask. "Can you give me a copy of your JARVIS' basic code? And how did you even manage to keep him or get him back?"

" _Stark_ ," Fury sighed in tired exasperation, not even trying to hide it or his disapproval with the questions the genius was asking when there were much more pressing matters to be concerned with, which he pointed out as much. "We don't have _time_ for your long lost glorified compu-" And he was suddenly knocked out, falling over in his seat, making his companions gape while all Starks groaned at their Stephens.

The Ambassador of Time gladly took the blame. "He was being a condescending dickhead. Who is _he_ to judge what is more important than what is essentially your _child_?" The other Stephens firmly nodded along in agreement, all three of them having been on the verge of doing it themselves. They all knew how important Starks' AIs are to him/her. They knew JARVIS is more than just a 'computer'.

"Ah, babe!" Mother Toni grinned at her husband, leaning over to give him a big smooch on the lips that left the sorcerer gaping and flustered. "I _knew_ there was a damn good reason I said yes. You're such a sweetie!"

"Don't _I_ get a kiss?" The other Toni's Strange asked and she rolled her eyes before pecking his cheek, causing the most powerful being in their home universe to pout like a disappointed child.

The father Tony wasn't really sure _how_ to react when his own Stephen turned to look at him half expectantly, trying to hide the hopefulness from his eyes, but he _did_ lean over and bumped their shoulders together, smiling at the sorcerer. They both ignored Peter's and Morgan's giggling, Harley's groan and Wong's eye roll, deeming them unworthy of an answer. When they looked back to the two sorcerers, they found Tony just pulling back from a gobsmacked Stephen after a very breathtaking kiss, judging from the dazed look in the taller man's eyes. Sorcerer Tony then just turned back to his only male counterpart and winked.

"JARVIS is preparing a copy of his code as we speak. As for how I have JARVIS even though we _still_ have Vision," he nodded towards said red android, who waved. "I have to thank only Stephen for that. Vision needed time to develop his own subroutines and protocols in order for JARVIS to be safely extracted from him. Stephen just speed up the process so we can attempt and do it. Having JARVIS back inspired me to inject myself with Extremis so we can never be separated or cut off from each other. Working the suit with both J and FRY helped keep me alive on more than one occasion and Titan was one of the scariest. Had it not been for them, Thanos would have impaled me with my own nanite blade!" The father Tony and his Stephen actually flinched very violently at that. "I would have been driven insane, too, had they not been there after the snap. They and Nebula and, of course, the Cloak were the only ones keeping me sane and alive after the Guardians of the Galaxy, Peter and even _Stephen_ all turned to dust."

"Wait, you had JARVIS and FRIDAY on _Titan_!?" The other Tony asked incredulously. "How!?"

"Extremis," the Toni with the Soul Stone on her hand and the Vice Sorcerer Supreme Tony replied together like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "It's how JARVIS didn't get sucked into Vision in the Cradle during the whole Ultron debacle. He was connected to me and just retreated as much of his code into my brain directly - Extremis practically makes it a super computer, before anyone asks - before Ultron could disperse it all. He just needed some time to find all the pieces Ultron _did_ manage to disperse while FRIDAY and I fought Ultron in Sokovia with occasional input from him, since FRIDAY was _pretty_ new to piloting the suit and my Co-pilot had to teach her the ropes on the go."

"So you _never_ lost JARVIS at all?" All three other Starks asked a bit incredulously, half envious of her for _always_ having their greatest creation at hand. Toni just shrugged.

"After the Aldrich Killian mess when JARVIS got disconnected from me because of the Mark 42 shutting down due to some glitch, while I was working on Extremis to save Pepper, the idea popped into my mind and both JARVIS and I were eager for a way to constantly be connected, as Harley would put it." She paused, smiling fondly at the idea of her own Keener even as she winked teasingly at the visiting Harley, who had to hide a blush. He found it _very_ weird just how hot the female version of his mentor really was. "Since even J was on board and the project was kept a secret _even_ from Mr Magic himself over there," she pointed at the 'devil', who only rolled his eyes in fond exasperation at her antics. "I didn't have anyone to try and stop me. I received the Extremis 3.0 the same day as Pepper did Extremis 2.0 to stabilize the virus Maya and Killian created. _Some_ people didn't appreciate it."

"You _flatlined_!" The immortal Stephen thundered, banging a hand hard enough against the table that it left _cracks_ , which was quite an accomplishment since the thing was made out of Hulk-proof material so no one could break the thing in a flair of temper and then have to replace it twice a month, which would totally piss off Pepper and Tony _always_ strives to not add to her stress or workload. "On _my_ table! While I was fighting for your _life_ when removing the shrapnel from Afghanistan! All because you didn't bother to tell me it was a _different_ version of the Extremis!"

"So," the woman started in a flat tone of voice. "You _didn't_ mind the _deadly suit of armor_ that came flying into the operating room and nearly _killed_ you and all the other doctors and nurses in its haste to come and merge with me and the Arc Reactor in my chest?"

"What!?" The other Starks all actually paled at the possibility, even if it wasn't their own Strange. The Stranges, though, were more interested in other things.

"You can still operate!?"

The 'devil' gave them all a 'Are you stupid?' look before turning back to his lover. "I'm the Sorcerer Supreme and _immortal_. The suit wouldn't have been able to kill me. Though I _don't_ appreciate your suits trashing my operating room."

" _You're_ the one who insisted on me keeping the Arc Reactor," the woman with the Soul Stone reminded, crossing her arms over her chest. "Though, I gotta admit, the only thing I can say about that would be _thank fuck_ since Maximoff would have _seriously_ messed with my head had it not been in my chest in Sokovia, so, cheers to that."

"You _didn't_ get mind fucked by Maximoff?" The Vice Sorcerer Supreme Stark asked, shocked and jealous, not really being able to believe what he was asking himself, _despite_ knowing that the Arc Reactor almost _perfectly_ matched the energy of the Infinity Stones. He turned to look at his Sorcerer Supreme, expression thoughtful. "Just how different would things have been had _we_ met even _earlier_ on?"

"Let's not try to find out," Stephen sighed, gesturing at their guests. "There's already been too much dimension and universe hopping for _my_ taste."

"Would you mind giving me _your_ copy of JARVIS' code?" Mother Toni asked immortal Toni, since her JARVIS was used to a female Toni Stark, not a man and as such wouldn't have to get used to a whole new gender for his creator.

"Not at all," the other Toni replied, seeming to understand her reasoning even _without_ her pointing out the obvious - to _them_ ; they _were_ Toni Stark, after all - and just tapping her Arc Reactor until a cable was formed by the nanites. The married woman followed her lead and made a USB port and they connected as one Toni transferred the code of their closest friend and dearest, greatest creation to another. When it was done, the married Toni tentatively probed at the sleeping code as they disconnected. "I suggest you connect him to the Internet and let him collect his own memories from there or maybe even Vision under controlled circumstances. After that, I'm sure he'll be your good ol' JARVIS."

"Of course. Thank you," the mother replied with tears in her eyes before blinking them away and busying herself with her son so she wouldn't think about how one of her greatest losses and sorrows will be alleviated in just a few hours time, if she's lucky and it doesn't take JARVIS long to get back to his old self.

The immortal Toni's eyes softened and she spared her alternate self the reply of both 'You're welcome' and especially 'It's nothing,' since returning _JARVIS_ is _far_ from nothing.

"So," Harley spoke up, ending the pause that had descended on the room as Tony took out a flash drive and handed it over to the visiting Tony, little Morgan watching in fascination how her own father, whom she'd always known to be incredibly strong, fought back tears. Harley knew how important JARVIS is to Tony. He'd seen it first hand just how close the two were. Even as a kid, it was easy to see. "What do we do now? I mean, we all kinda came here because we wanted to see how different your world is to ours and because we were all curious about this whole Contender and Ambassadors thing."

"Which you _still_ haven't truly explained," Fury pointed out, stroking Goose behind the ears.

"Nor will I, considering only half of the Ambassadors from your world are present and Romanoff isn't even an assured one. She's just a potential one," the sorcerer Tony replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "If I sensed it correctly during my own brief visit to your world, Quill is the Ambassador of Power, Vision is _still_ the Ambassador of Mind and none other than Dr Jane Foster-" Both Thors stiffened upon hearing her name in connotation to the Infinity Stones, given what one of them has put her through. "Is the Ambassador of Reality. The Soul Stone still doesn't seem to have chosen, but the candidates for Ambassador are Clint, Romanoff, Nebula and Gamora. As you can see, I have _no_ reason to explain _everything_ to _all_ of you."

"But-"

" _However_ ," Tony quickly continued before the visiting Peter could protest, obviously used to this. "I _will_ teach my alternate self and I insist on Loki and Stephen showing their counterparts how to deal with this responsibility as well. If they wish the share what they learned with you, then that's on them."

"Can we come along as well?" The two Tonis asked together, the immortal one glancing down at the Gauntlet with the Soul Stone on her hand and thinking back to what the sorcerer Stark had said about needing to eventually collect all six in order for her universe to be reborn and rebuilt.

"Sure! You will _all_ need to know how to deal with the Stones _eventually_. May as well learn now," he replied, beckoning to them with a wave of his hand.

"Wait!" Peter called out, stopping the group that were about to depart. "Which universe is off the best? Which version of us fought and acted the most correct? So, you know, we know how to proceed onward from now on?"

"Well, I guess I'd say _their_ universe got off the best," the sorcerer Tony pointed at the immortal lovers with a thoughtful hum. "Both contenders are alive and the Stones are accessible and they're both already immortal and ready to wait out the end of your universe, so that part's already taken care of. Both of them are at full power and potential and seem to have everything mostly under control."

"Wait just a second," Harley interrupted this time, looking incredulous. "Are you saying _immortality_ is _important_? Are _you_ immortal?"

"Well, _yeah_ ," the indigenous Stephen replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Using the Time Stone to fight Dormammu in the way I did usually has immortality as a consequence."

"It seems like fighting Dormammu in _any_ way has immortality as a consequence," the 'devil' Strange said, fingering the pendant he wire with the Time Stone hidden away inside the Eye of Agamotto gleaming a greeting at his touch. "It might be inevitable, seeing as the universe wouldn't want its favored Contender to be driven to insanity from loss and loneliness."

"Got it in one," the sorcerer inventor snorted, shaking his head. "Anyway, all the 'chosen ones' please follow me on the path of enlightenment." All the other Starks snorted but followed as he opened an Arc Reactor blue portal like the ones Stephen usually makes and beckoned them over. He was the last one to go through, sending a significant look at his own Strange before closing the portal. The Strange most at ease besides the Stephen indigenous to this dimension was the 'devil', seeing as his Toni had the pendant which allowed him to sense her should she be in danger. The most upset about it all was none other than the Stephen who was practically bullied into the Stark family and he had a good reason, given that his Tony had actually _died_ and been dead for _weeks_. Still, he stilled his nerves as he always had to when Tony was out of his sight and instead rounded on his alternate self, the Ambassador of Time himself.

"We have a few things to discuss."

The other two Stephens watched them with interest as the two who had been the closest to losing their Starks sized each other up. "Yes, I believe we do. Why don't you ask your questions and I'll answer them as i see fit." He waved his hand and all four Sorcerer Supremes found themselves away from the other visitors, in a room that looked like a library of mixed origins and tastes.

"How did you keep your Tony alive?" He asked the important question straight away. "I looked into fourteen million six hundred and five future possibilities and the _only_ way to save the universe was at the cost of Tony Stark's life. He _has_ to die in order for everyone else to live ... How did you manage to save him?"

"Tony Stark doesn't _have_ to die," the Ambassador of Time replied after a thoughtful pause. "Or, at least, he doesn't _have_ to stay _dead_. I sincerely nearly lost my Tony to the Infinity Stones and it was _terrifying_. Imagine just being snapped back into existence to find the person you love not breathing, _dying_ in your hands and no amount of magic or science or medicine can get a response. Tony had been presented with an offer by the Infinity Stones: to stay with them until the end of this repetition of the universe into the next one, to keep all his memories of this life when he lives there again. Tony already knew what his purpose was until the end of _this_ universe and he _knew_ he'd have to watch the people he loves die either way. He chose not to stay with them and _not_ to remember this life when he is inevitably born again in the next. He didn't want to bear that pain. So, all in all, keeping Tony Stark _alive_ is up to _him_ , not us, not anyone else." He paused again, studying his only counterpart with a male Stark. "Although you _could_ have at least _tried_ to preserve his life instead of just watching from the sidelines ... "

"I thought there was no other way," the visiting Stephen defended and the other just shrugged nonchalantly though his eyes flashed challengingly.

"I thought there was _always_ another way." The words hit him harder and probably harsher than the Ambassador of Time had planned them to, but it drove a point home when repeating his own words to Mordo right back at him. The married Stephen also shifted uneasily at hearing them but the 'devil' Stephen seems to have never heard or uttered the words himself. Then again, his universe was _completely_ different from theirs. "Tony Stark is a fighter. Give him a chance and he'll make it. You didn't give him a chance. You just stood and watched, wallowing in self-loathing and guilt. You didn't even _try_."

"I ... " he looked away, not being able to bear the veiled accusation any longer. "I didn't know if I could save him. I didn't want to steal his last moments with his family away from him. I didn't want to steal his chance to finally _rest_. I guess I acted like a coward, unwilling to face the depth of my own feelings. Even at the funeral, I stayed away, distant, doing my best not to show how much it _hurt_ that he was _gone_. I ... I don't know what to _do_ anymore!" He stood up from his seat, starting to pace, the Cloak of Levitation detaching itself to hover over him worriedly as he barely refrained from pulling his own hair out. The other Stephens just watched themselves in him having a near mental breakdown. Or was it emotional? He didn't even know anymore. "He's pulling me into his family but he's married to Pepper! His daughter likes me almost more than Rhodey and insists I visit at least twice a week! Vishanti, she asked that I _move in_ with them! Tony asked, too! Dozens of times, jokingly or not! Even Pepper asked but she's not pushy and she seems to accept me in her husband's life as though it's nothing even though she _knows_ I _love_ him! I don't understand it anymore! Why is this _happening_ to me!? Why can't _Tony_ just _finally_ get a fucking _break_!? He saved the fucking _universe_! He _deserves_ to finally _rest_! But he's Iron Man and the world will always need him as much as it needs Tony Stark and that's just not _fair_! One man shouldn't have to bear so much weight! And are you telling me he's now ... _immortal_ to boot? He's supposed to wait us all out and watch the universe he died for _die_ and actually _contribute_ to its end by giving this ... Galactus character the Infinity Stones? That's just _cruel_! Why _him_!? Why not somebody else, _anybody_ else!?"

"Because he's Tony Stark," the Stephen indigenous to this dimension replied calmly, a bitter and sorrowful undertone to his words. The answer was stated as though it was obvious that it could be no one else and, sadly, all Stephens agreed. There was simply not another being like Tony Stark anywhere or any time in existence. "Because he's Iron Man and because he will always rise to the occasion, beat the odds and come out alive, one way or the other. He just always needs a ... _good doctor_ to start him on his journey."

The 'devil' Strange nodded solemnly, mentally thanking the man who had saved his dearest friend's and beloved's life in that cave in Afghanistan. "We owe a lot to Dr Ho Yinsen. The whole world does."

"Don't sell ourselves short, either," the Ambassador of Time told his fellow immortal. "I'm not trying to make some glorious, noble heroes out of us, but we've had quite a hand, no matter how shaky, in shaping the person any Tony Stark is to become. And he's had as much hand in making us the man we are now. Loving Tony Stark is easy. It's living with loving him that is difficult and that presents us with challenges. If you can't stand seeing all that he'll throw himself into, then you should leave his life and watch over him from afar."

The mere thought stabbed Stephen's heart like millions of Dormammu's spikes and the pain was even more unbearable. "I ... I can't do that ... " He whispered in a broken, shaken up tone and the Ambassador of Time nodded, looking away.

"I couldn't, either. I mean, I _tried_ \- I've out Tony through so much and I feared I'd only cause him more pain. At least I'm as immortal as he is due to tampering with the Time Stone in order to defeat Dormammu so I could watch over him - but Tony himself wouldn't let me and I doubt he'd let you, either. It's not up to _us_ to decide what he's going to do with his life. He's Tony Stark."

"That he is." The visiting Stephen replied with a fond chuckle, letting the Cloak of Levitation settle around his shoulders and pat his cheek in an attempt at comfort. He really didn't know what he'd do without it.

"Toni is no better," the strangest Strange added, huffing with fond exasperation. "When she sets her mind to something, good luck with changing it. I also tried to stay away once - we had an argument unlike any before and I left before we said things that can't be forgiven - but I kept watch over her, always. I didn't come back until I heard her practically _pleading_ for my help when Thanos nearly wiped her and the Avengers out of existence. That was just a couple of days ago for us so you're kind of ruining her vacation."

"The only time _I_ stayed away from Toni was when she got really pissed this one time with T'Challa because of the pardons, her eyes glowing blue for a whole week straight. I feared she might start using me as a punching bag," the father Stephen shared, shuddering at the memory. "She doesn't know it - unless Wong snitched on me - but I used an excuse that I was in another dimension for Sorcerer Supreme duties while I was actually hiding out at Kamar-Taj, waiting out the storm, though my ears _did_ ring after the lecture she gave me about going to other dimensions alone again. But that's the longest we've been apart, a couple of days at best. I really couldn't stay away from her longer."

"Why wouldn't you go to other dimensions alone?" The master of the Dark Dimension asked with an arched eyebrow, which only went higher when the father blushed.

"It's not a story I would tell in the presence of a man who can bench-press Thanos with a complete Infinity Gauntlet without breaking a sweat." The 'devil' just rolled his eyes but let it go. It was far from an important topic. Instead, he turned towards his fellow immortal.

"So, what do we do now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do we have a lecture on the use of the Time Stone? Are you going to tell us more about Galactus? Any tips on how to keep our Starks safe? Anything at all?"

The Ambassador of Time just gave him a look. "Just try not to destroy the multiverse. That's all I ask. As for the Ambassadors of Infinity and the Stones themselves," he gestured for them to join hands, magic weaving around his own, ready for an instant transfer of knowledge. The 'devil' didn't hesitate at all but the other two Stephens did. The younger immortal just rolled his eyes at them. "I _promise_ not to do anything to you besides showing what you all will have to become to fit into your Starks' new life. Especially you," he gestured at the married Strange, who knew next to nothing about all of this _despite_ the 'devil' Stephen having the Time Stone for only a couple of days, before turning to look towards the only other Stephen who had a Tony. "And _you_. One of you is pretty much clueless while the other knows a loss not even I can describe. You _need_ to learn what you'll all be up against. And you _must_ realize that you _can't_ interfere with their destiny. Tony/Toni Stark is a person who _must_ go through certain difficulties in order to reach the point where he can do something great for the universe. Ours is only the privilege of helping him/her achieve this destiny, assisting in it becoming reality. We _can't_ protect them from everything that would bother them or cause them pain. There are things they _must_ do on their own. You need to realize that more than you need to learn about the Ambassadors of Infinity."

"But how can you resist from just ... wrapping him up in bubble wrap and keeping him safe in Kamar-Taj?" It was actually the 'devil' Stephen who asked this, tilting his head even as the other two versions of themselves joined in touching this dimension's Stephen's hand. "I admit to trying it with Toni after the whole 'Civil War' fiasco and Rhodes' injury after I just barely saved his legs, but it wasn't the time for it since New York and Thanos still haunted her. She refused to stay and we had a fight but now, after everything is done? Now that she knows she's immortal? She seems a lot more willing to live with me where I and the entirety of Kamar-Taj that's smitten with her can keep her safe. _Only_ after it becomes obvious that she's not exactly a baseline human anymore, of course, and only until the world forgets enough about her for her to return to it and continue on her quest of revolutionizing it. Though she has plans about never needing that move to Kamar-Taj that we've all been trying to undermine and discourage ... "

"She's a favorite, isn't she?" The married man guessed from his own experience and even the two Stephens with male Starks sighed at the truth of that statement disguised as a question. The 'devil' only snorted.

"Like you wouldn't believe. I actually have to _fight_ for her attention and I'm her _boyfriend_ or something along those lines."

"You complained about not being married," the married one pointed our, causing his counterpart to rub tiredly at his forehead.

"Toni and I joked on our first ever date that we're practically cosmically engaged and will be married since we'll spend a literal eternity with each other. After, of course, I got through to her that I won't get _bored_ of her." He sounded as incredulous as that statement deserved. As if _Tony/Toni Stark_ could _ever_ be in _any_ form _boring_. "I'm working on that with her, but I think I'm actually getting through to her. It's only been a couple of days, after all, not counting the eight odd years of our ... _strange_ interaction. Congratulations on snatching her up in holy matrimony, by the way."

The father of Miracolo dipped his head in embarrassment even as he beamed with pride. "Rhodey only actually gave in when he realized how much I helped Toni with her self worth issues. Carol helped, since she saw that I 'worshiped the ground Toni walks on', in her own words. I owe it to that woman that I didn't end up tag teamed by Team Iron Man and murdered before my wedding day. I can understand their trepidation, given the last Steven that had proposed to her. Do you know that she very nearly lost all possibility of having kids of her own? Not minding her AIs and Peter and Harley?"

"Because of _Rogers_?" Only the visiting Stephen didn't spit out and he almost recoiled slightly at the venom in their voices.

"Didn't you and your Toni say that she lost a child in the Avengers Civil War?"

"Please let's not talk about that given that there _is_ a Rogers nearby almost all of us are _very_ tempted to kill. I might just snap."

"I'm considering erasing him from Time even as we speak," the Ambassador of said aspect of existence replied grimly and the only Stephen not hating Steve winced in sympathy.

"Maybe we should return to a safer topic? Like what you need to show us?"

"Probably for the best. Tony should be finishing up with your companions soon enough and we don't want them waiting." He sent out an inviting tendril of magic that was quickly met by his counterparts and they watched them in surprised fascination, only now noticing how the shades of the color of their magic differed from each other. The Ambassador Stephen's was pure gold, the father Stephen's resembled more the color of the Soul Stone, the visiting Stephen's was like the embers of fire while the 'devil's' pulled more towards red, probably a subconscious alteration from his association with the persona he was accused of three hundred years ago. They created a right retention of fire when woven together as the exchange started.

Needless to say, it was quite an experience to receive all that knowledge and no Stephen left that room an unchanged man.


	3. Chapter 3

"Well, I hope your visit was enlightening," Vice Sorcerer Supreme Tony chirped when they all regrouped back in the living room, now filled with most of the New and Young Avengers, studying the strange mixed group and playing with Miracolo and Morgan for the past hour or so. Clint was staring at the visiting Black Widow who was also in turn studying the different version of her partner, each comparing the other to their version. Scott and Hope were playing with the kids since Cassie and Morgan seemed to have really taken to each other and little Nathaniel and Miracolo were gurgling things at Each other as Laura and Vision helped Wong take care of the boys. No one was surprised to see that this world's Fury had also appeared upon hearing about the dimension travelers, looking at the only Rogers present with trepidation and wariness. It would seem _everyone_ had issues with the man in this universe. The Sorcerer Supreme of this dimension was casually standing by Stark's side as they prepared to send everyone back to their home dimensions, waiting for the Asgardians to finish their conversation and for Morgan to be done with her game. "Sorry if not everyone got to hear all the juicy stuff, but it's really imperative that you guys don't stay long. There's too many Infinity Stones in close proximity and by that I don't mean just this room, but this whole fucking _universe_. The others can share once you're home, if they wish."

"I guess we should thank you for your hospitality, all things considered," the visiting Wong offered with his resting bitch face, sending a significant look at his own Stephen that communicated he expected details once they're back. "We weren't exactly golden guests."

"You can blame my idiot for that, I'm afraid," the immortal Toni said ling sufferingly as she glanced at her lover, secretly concerned by his new ... _strange_ behavior after the meeting with the Ambassador of Time. "I'll try harder next time to keep Rogers out of any possible visits to different universes."

"It was fine, I guess, as long as he stayed away from me. I've had enough of Rogers for one life, thank you." The sorcerer Tony paused, considering the 'devil'. "Is it true, though, that you've rejected him from joining the army several times back in WWII?"

That, at least, got a normal reaction out of all the visiting Sorcerer Supremes, the 'devil' smirking while the other two watched in barely concealed interest. "Say what you want about me, but I won't deny that I took great pleasure in denying him the chance to not only get himself, but also any possible unfortunate unit that he'd be with endangered if not outright killed. I didn't even realize I'd come to hate that guy from Brooklyn so much until I met him as Captain America in the 21st century." He shrugged, not looking apologetic at all. "Maybe I should have cleared him and let him due? It certainly would have solved a lot of problems."

"And created new ones," the Ambassador of Time looked disgusted by his own admission. "Despite everything, he's been useful against the Red Skull. Everything after that, not so much."

"What about New York?" The married Tony could help but point out. "What about Ultron? HYDRA? _Thanos_?"

"What _about_ New York, Ultron, HYDRA and Thanos?" The immortal female version of Stark retorted. "Pretty sure Carol could have just as easily taken his place. Or T'Challa and Peter, though definitely not the kid. Or a mutant."

"Or an Inhuman and let's not forget how useful a sorcerer would have been," Barton offered with a glance in Wong's and Strange's direction. "Sure would have helped with all that mind control going on in that time."

"Not to mention that Rogers pretty much fucked us over where Thanos was concerned, so I pretty much agree. Captain America should have stayed in the past." The sorcerer Stark looked over to the original visiting group and saw some of their pain, no matter how well they tried to hide it. "Maybe he just finally realized and acted upon it instead of blaming the future."

"Definitely not a discussion for this time," the only other male Stark announced before things could get any more awkward. "Come on, Morgan. Say by to your friends, it's time we go home."

The little girl gave a put upon sigh that was a perfect blend of her favorite people, meaning Tony, Pepper, Stephen, Rhodey and Happy, before she bent over to kiss Miracolo on the cheek. "Goodbye, baby brother. I love you 3000." She then bounced over to her father, taking his hand, oblivious to the reactions of the adults as she beamed at her pseudo brothers and her favorite sorcerer.

The 'devil' Stephen was the first to break the silence. "We'll go first, if you don't mind." And he proceeded to _single-handedly_ rip open reality straight into his dimension's Kamar-Taj's courtyard. He turned to his lover and once again offered her his hand as though he were asking for a dance. "Shall we?" And Toni just smiled at him with exasperated fondness before she took his hand without hesitation and they, once again, waltzed straight into the portal, soon disappearing from sight. The others started, though, when Wong appeared in the rift, rolling his eyes at the couple.

"They're so sappy they make me both sing with joy and sick to my stomach." He nodded to the other versions of the power couple before stepping back. "Make sure to bring Stark around more often at your Kamar-Taj, too. We need a breath of fresh air." He then reached out with his magic and reluctantly yanked Rogers back into his dimension, making the blond man yelp, before disappearing from sight. And a few seconds later, reality mended itself on its own, leaving the rest to stare at empty air until the only remaining Toni shook her head, looking up at her Stephen.

"I bet _he_ doesn't have to be babysat so he doesn't accidental end up almost mating to a tentacled scorpion lady."

"I'd really rather not speak about that _one_ time, Toni," the sorcerer grumbled with a blush staining his cheeks while everyone else gaped at him, trying to reconnect this version to the man who had just done all on his own what even Tony needed almost all Infinity Stones to do. There was a _damn_ good reason why Stephen hadn't wanted to tell the others why he _always_ went to other dimensions only in the company of his wife, _especially_ in front of the 'devil'. It was _embarrassing_. "As if _you_ haven't had your moments and your alternate self," he pointed towards the Chosen Contender with a jerk of his head. "Is a total overpowered badass."

"Yeah, sure, but _I_ don't need a chaperone into other dimensions and _I_ kicked Thanos' butt due to raging hormones of a protective and desperate mother to be," the woman pointed out and every other female in the room whistled, impressed, while the men snickered at Strange's predicament. Maybe it would have bothered him if he wasn't so absolutely smitten with his wife.

"That you did, love, that you did." The father then sighed and signaled Levi to bring Miracolo over to his parents and the two looked expectantly towards the Vice Sorcerer Supreme, waiting, as the Cloak of Levitation settled around Strange's shoulders. Tony just nodded to them and focused on their origins before opening a colorful portal that led straight into the Avengers Compound kitchen from where their journey had began. They could see Fury on the other side, yelling at the New Avengers and the Rogues apparently were trying to take the moral high ground as they scolded Carol, Rhodey, Vision, Hope, Scott and Peter for letting strangers take the little family away.

Toni just rolled her eyes. "It would seem Popeye's in one of his moods again." Stephen snorted beside her, taking their son from his wife so she can better intimidate the black leather clad man as she stepped through the portal, muttering curses all the while. Strange just nodded a farewell and followed after the Iron Maiden, who was already preparing for the bullshit she was about to face. The original visiting group and the people indigenous to this dimension could only watch in morbid fascination as the mother started dressing them all down, making even _Fury_ flinch in sympathy as the portal swiftly closed. Both groups just cast uncertain glances at their respective Tonys and the sorcerer one offered them a sharp smile that had some gulping nervously. The kids actually scattered with one last wave at Morgan and the two visiting young heroes before disappearing, running while they still could. The Ambassador of Reality Thor looked tempted to join them, making the two leaders of Kamar-Taj frown suspiciously at him.

"Well," the visiting Tony jumped in before more drama could break out. "This has been ... fun, to say the least, but I gotta get home soon before Pepper loses it and rips my head off or drowns me in tears, whichever comes first, so if you'd be so kind, Stephen and I will be taking the kiddies home now." He ignored any snorts or protests from his companions, waiting for his counterpart to open a portal to their own destination. He wanted some practice before he starts using the Infinity Stones on his own hand for such big leaps so he doesn't accidentally rip the multiverse apart.

The sorcerer Tony could only snort but did as asked, opening a portal right where this whole journey had started. "I'm sure your Awesome Facial Hair Bro will back you up and save you from Pep's wrath ... Though I'm not sure even _Galactus_ can stand up to _that_ , if you know what I mean." When he realized he was getting some blank or incredulous stares, he frowned. "What? You've not yet made it to Awesome Facial Hair Bro level? You need to work on that, stat."

"What-"

"Just leave it," the Ambassador of Time interrupted his counterpart with a put upon sigh, shaking his head. "You _don't_ want to know."

"Actually, I think that's _fantastic_!" Predictably, the other Tony beamed, turning sparkling eyes to his Strange, leaving him speechless. The other Stephen just groaned in defeat, knowing his other self was beyond saving now. "That's what we're calling each other from now on! Yup, I've made up my mind. That's it."

"You did that on purpose."

"I regret nothing." The two Sorcerer Supremes of this dimension exchanged even as they waved their guests off in their journey. As the portal closed behind the visiting group, the others slowly dispersed, commenting on the normal weirdness of such an occurrence until only the Ambassadors of Infinity remained with the Chosen Contender. "Well, that was an interesting day off. Remind me to _never_ plan one of these in advance again. I can't seem to catch a break."

"Well, _I'm_ off to do more interesting things, if you don't mind," Loki huffed and opened a portal with the power of the Space Stone, leading straight to New Asgard. "Are you coming, Thor?" The blond King just nodded, smiled and waved at the others and stepped through after the mage, who closed the portal immediately afterwards. Vision and Nebula just grabbed a hold of each other's hands and Vision phased them through the floor, neither wanting to be left with the couple as they had a tendency to forget other people are in the room with them and often make things extremely awkward for said people when they start being affectionate. Even JARVIS and FRIDAY retreated into the Tower's systems instead of being directly connected to their creator, giving the two men as much privacy as they can. The Cloak didn't budge, trying to pretend it was just an ordinary piece of clothing so it can maybe snuggle with its two favorite people. Even the Infinity Stones were quiet, though it was no surprise. They _loved_ the drama that was their Chosen Contender's life.

Stephen was the first to break the silence, several minutes after they were left alone. "Those two still have a lot of barriers to break through until they're ready to accept that they have an eternity together," he said as he looked at his shorter companion. "Those two that are most like us."

"The proportions of the loss they experienced because of Thanos and his fucked up plan for the universe aren't exactly _proportional_ ," Tony countered, meeting Stephen's eyes. "Their reunion was short lived before the other me died-" And here Stephen flinched at the very idea, remembering his own fear and loss when Tony was unresponsive after his Snap to bring everyone back. He couldn't imagine living with that loss for five minutes, let alone _five weeks_ or, Vishanti forbid, _longer_ like his counterpart had. "And then even when I brought them back, the other you had to be reminded that the other me has a _family_ that he'll return to. The other Tony told me it took quite a bit of convincing to get Stephen to join in on that family. He thinks Stephen's still struggling with the guilt of sending him to his death and the other me _still_ has nightmares of the Snap. They're both terrified this is just a dream and they're afraid of waking up and finding they really _had_ lost each other. It's what's keeping them apart. It's making them keep a distance while desperately trying to get closer."

"It's what's stopping them from accepting their new dynamic and their destiny," Stephen finished for him, taking a hold of Tony's bare hand, intertwining their fingers. "I think I managed to help my other selves to prepare for what the future might hold, but are their Starks ready for it?"

"Oh yeah," the engineer waved him off. "They're all a version of me, the great and wondrous Tony Stark. They're ready for anything." They both snorted at the, sadly, ironic statement, both knowing there's bound to be some freaking out and bumps in the road. "But, seriously, I think they'll be fine, eventually, as long as they have a Stephen by their side. I was," he said, looking away with a light blush he was trying not to let spread as Stephen smiled at him lovingly. It got harder when the other brought their joined hands up to press a gentle kiss on Tony's knuckles.

"I think they'll all do just fine."

00000

Stephen groaned in annoyance as Toni was quite literally swept away from him by eager sorcerers who all just _loved_ the genius and wanted her input on dozens of different spells or relics, leaving him with an unimpressed Wong and an even more terrified-of-him Rogers. He had actually been hoping to take Toni out on their second ever date, but it would seem that the universe was currently against him. Why _else_ would he be stuck with dealing with an idiotic blond supersoldier instead of wooing his beloved?

"So, how did it go? Learn anything useful?" Hos dear friend asked and Strange sighed, jumping into the air and crossing his legs so he can sit-levitate, resigning himself to using his own magic - not that it was a hardship with the amount of power _he_ had at his disposal but it was the principle of the matter - when the Cloak of Levitation rushed off to find Toni and be possessive of his girlfriend in the possible presence of any other sentient magical artifact. He let it, always feeling better to know Toni had some backup besides her AIs. As incredible as JARVIS and FRIDAY were, they couldn't provide physical backup unless the Iron Legion or any other of Toni's suits was around. The Cloak, on the other hand, could probably bench-press Captain America if it got the chance to. It was always as tempted as Stephen was to turn him into his first ever Mindless One.

"Only that Toni and I will eventually have to recollect all of the Infinity Stones and present them to Galactus so he can restart the universe when its end comes and quite a few new neat tricks regarding the Time Stone," the 'devil' Sorcerer Supreme replied casually, ignoring how Rogers had flinched away from him when he had started levitating. He didn't really care for the other's discomfort. Like he kept saying, he'd never really liked Rogers at all.

Wong just looked at him, the only sign of his surprise breaking through his impassive expression the slightest widening of his eyes and the arching of his eyebrows. The man had a poker face most seasoned card players would be envious of if they ever got the chance to see it. Stephen wondered if he should risk the Wong family bad luck at gambling by bringing the Asian sorcerer to Las Vegas to try out their luck. They could ear a _lot_ of money. But, then again, if Wong holds to family tradition, they could just as easily lose Stephen's _enormous_ fortune and _that's_ saying something. The amount of gold and gems and other riches he got from Dormammu's numerous conquests was _not_ a joking matter. It says a _lot_ that a Wong could lose it all in gambling. Say what you will, but Stephen's rather used to the wealth and would rather keep it. It _is_ what practically keeps Kamar-Taj and the Sanctums running in this 'death and taxes' world, after all, and it's not even making a dent in his finances. For the sake of the Sorcerers of Earth, it's best not to test their luck. Even if Wong's face really _would_ be awesome for poker.

"I am not even sure whether I want to ask," said man replied to the information the Sorcerer Supreme so inelegantly dropped in his lap, shaking his head. "Just tell me whether we should start worrying about Ms Stark because I don't think anyone else cares about anything else."

"You know, you guys really ought to lay off my girlfriend if you want me to get her to eventually say yes to marriage. I _do_ need to properly woo her - she _is_ Toni Stark - so if you would all just _leave her be_ for _five minutes_ -"

"Oh _please_ ," snorted the shorter man, glaring at the immortal. "As if you'd only be _five minutes_. You'd hog her for days on end and she'll soon be going back to New York, anyway, to that spider kid you mentioned. You'll still get to see her whenever you want while _some_ of us actually have _duties_ to fulfill and _lack the power to multiply ourselves_ in order to finish those tasks sooner or leave them for a clone to finish in the first place." Stephen had to concede to that, but it made him pout inwardly none the less. Still, he knew he had eternity with Toni. He had time to get her to marry him. It had been something he'd been toying with in his mind for years now, but after seeing that alternate self with a son with his Toni Stark, he couldn't stop thinking about it.

He figured he deserved _some_ real happiness after all of these years of serving the universe and suffering loss after loss of close friends due to the sacrifice he made in his battle against Dormammu. An eternity with Toni already sounded like a dream come true but he wanted to do things the _old fashioned way_ , to make it official. He wanted to be able to yell to the world and the universe at large that Toni Stark, that amazing, incredible, _beautiful_ woman, was his and not just by default of them being the only ones who will likely view the end of their universe. Or, who knows? Maybe they can escape it by hiding in a different dimension? The Dark Dimension was pretty much removed from the rest of the multiverse. Maybe they could hide there until they can rejoin a remade universe? It _is_ out of touch with time, after all.

He better stop contemplating it because he was becoming more and more tempted to do it by the second. A _true_ eternity with the woman he loves like he'd never loved anyone else? It was a dream come true, but he himself had been rather _out of touch_ with his original nature, that is, humanity. He hadn't meant it lightly when he told Toni _she_ was his humanity now. Three hundred years of immortality is a long time, just long enough for one to forget how it was to be human. Toni, though, was all _about_ being human. He doubted she'd find the thought of living forever, even if it was with the _one_ person who _truly_ understood her - and her AIs: he rather doubted JARVIS and FRIDAY would somehow suddenly disappear out of the picture - as appealing as he did. She had, after all, nearly had a mental breakdown after learning she's immortal due to the Infinity Stones' little stunt. He figured not to pile up any more stress on her in the near future. It _was_ , after all, her _vacation_.

Which reminded him of the blond he had dragged from whatever petty thing he had been engaging in just to freak him out, turning his attention to Rogers, who looked on the premise of a mental breakdown _right now_. Not that Stephen cared, either way, but he'd still rather not have the man having one _here_. So he just knocked him out with magic, opened up a portal into the living room of the Avengers Compound and dumped him through, ignoring the startled cries from the other end as he closed the portal. He didn't give a shit about how or where, exactly, or maybe even on whom the supersoldier landed on. And he decided that his sorcerers have had more than enough of his girlfriend's time as he got back to his feet and started strolling through the ancient temple that was Kamar-Taj, following that peculiar clash of energies that came from an Infinity Stone being close by an active Arc Reactor, marking Toni's location like a beacon, which he was thankful for. After all, this _was_ the first time in six years that he had a _clear_ idea of where Toni was, since usually the Arc Reactor somehow hid her from any means of magical detection. Which had been pretty much why he had given her his old pendant from his days before he became Sorcerer Supreme in the first place, just so he could keep an eye out for her. Now, though, he could detect her and he followed those energies even as he thought up ways of how to tempt her away from her curiosities and questions. A second proper date was in order, after all. They both needed something pleasant to help them take the day's events off of their minds and Stephen wanted some cuddles from his girlfriend. And no, he wasn't ashamed one bit. He just wanted to turn Toni into his personal teddy bear and hide her from the world.

He knew what they'll have to face on their long, immortal journey together. He knew of the suffering they'll both go through, the pain he'll have to help her get through when, eventually, her friends start slowly dying of old age and fulfilled lives. He was well aware of the loss they'll both have to deal with when Earth dies, when the rest of their universe slowly dies. And he knew of all the challenges they'll have to face in between then and now, the lessons they'll have to learn and the truths they'll have to confront.

But no one said they had to deal with it all _right now_ , did they?

One thing was for sure, at the _very_ least. The Silver Surfer or whatever other Herald of Galactus won't _dare_ come near them. Not as long as Stephen draws breath and even after that. Immortal, remember? Besides, all those who are in the least bit connected to the universe and its energies knows who he is, the power he possesses and he's even more powerful now with an Infinity Stone in his possession and protection. No one was stupid enough to try and mess with him and, by extension, they'll eventually learn not to mess with Toni either.

But those were worries for another day. He had a girlfriend to steal away for a date from a group of overexcited sorcerers. The worst thing about his predicament was that he couldn't even blame them. She _is_ Toni Stark, after all. That did _not_ , however, mean that he wasn't going to whisk her away.

Call him an asshole, but he _is_ the 'devil' and there's really only _one_ person who can dance with him.

00000

Stephen and Toni lay in their bed that night, long after Toni had dealt with their worried friends, family and (maybe not quite) teammates and they had put Miracolo to bed, silent and just holding tightly onto each other, trying to process what they had seen and learned that day. They were holding each other, Stephen on his back with Toni's head on his chest, each lost to their thoughts, pondering the events of their little dimension hopping adventure. Usually they'd discuss and exchange opinions on such outings, but this wasn't exactly a normal dimension hopping date. This time, it had been quite different.

For Toni, it had been a dreadful eye opener as to the truth she had known all along. The peace and contentedness of her family life can't last forever and it was a downright miracle that it had lasted as long as it had. She was, after all, Toni Stark, Iron Maiden, once upon a time the Merchant of Death. It was an unrealistic dream to hope for an easy happily ever after. There was always a catch, a loophole, a hidden agenda, only it seems that it was the universe's doing this time, much to her dread and annoyance. It couldn't be put off if it was the universe, after all. She may not have to do anything about it _right now_ , but she will, eventually. To be honest, she was almost _relieved_. Almost. Since, after all, this was what she was used to by now. She'd once joked she'd be out of a job with peace but she now understood she'd more likely be _dead_ with it, without purpose, useless, unnecessary.

She may no longer make weapons, but fighting was in her blood. She was defiance. Of course she'd never know eternal peace - apparently, not even in death, seeing as that father Tony had been brought back even after he had sacrificed his life for the universe - since she was created to actually _fight_ for it, whatever it takes. It was a sad existence, but she knew someone had to play that role. She wasn't sure why she had expected it would be anyone else.

The immortality thing, though, bothered her, both in regards to herself and Stephen. Sure, she had never come into direct contact with the Infinity Stones like her other counterparts had, never having put on the Gauntlet herself, but it seemed like a constant. The Vice Sorcerer Supreme Tony had made it quite clear when he talked to just them Starks that it was a fixed point of existence, that every Stark everywhere was the Chosen Contender. The other Starks were already immortal - at least the three she had met - but she wasn't ... Right? She didn't _feel_ immortal. Though, to be fair, she didn't know how _immortality_ actually _felt_ , if at all. She feared the possibility, actually. She'd already been through so much, seen things no single mortal being should see, gone places and done things people could only dream of. She'd already _lost_ so much. How much _more_ would she have to loose? Extremis had already pretty much ensured she'd outlive her _grandchildren_ and _that_ was a painful thought, one she'd forced herself to accept even before she found out she had miraculously been pregnant with Miracolo. She had known she'd have to watch her loved ones die one by one, but she had always taken comfort in knowing Thor will probably still be there, Vision, too. Probably Carol. She had avoided thinking about losing Stephen at all costs, not wanting to spiral herself straight into a panic attack, but it would seem that won't be a thing to worry about.

But the thought of _him_ being immortal ... She knew what he'd been through, what he'd done to save the world from Dormmamu. He was already eons older than any human should ever be, with how he had had to fight the demon. It wasn't fair that he'll have to actually _live_ for eternity - or at least the end of their universe - when he had already experienced it through that time loop and through gazing into the future. Why can't he catch a break? Why can't the _both_ of them, for that matter? Sure, Toni kind of understood why _she_ has to continue fighting but she had kind of signed up for this when she revealed to the world she was Iron Maiden. Nick had been right about her not knowing what kind of world she had just become a part of, but she could have quit.

 _'Or maybe I never could have,'_ the woman mused, knowing that that was the more likely possibility. After all, she had known she had survived Afghanistan for a _reason_. She had taken Yinsen's words to heart - or the Arc Reactor, to be precise - and had made sure not to waste her life. She had thought New York would be the brunt of it, but then she had seen the army on the other side of that wormhole and she had a whole new chilling perspective, one only JARVIS had ever truly listened to her about. Fury, too, to an extent, but he hadn't been worried, probably because he knew Carol would help. She almost hadn't been enough. _Toni_ almost hadn't been enough.

She thought of the Infinity Stones, of what sorcerer Tony had told them and shuddered. She had quite a challenge in front of her.

Stephen, on the other hand, was trying to reconnect the visions of the future he'd seen with what the Ambassador of Time Stephen had shown him, as well as the very scary possibility that he was immortal. He had always known there will come a time when he will have to pay his due for the use of the Time Stone in his battle against both Kaecilius and Dormammu. He had always thought it would be pain - something he could deal with ( _"Pain is an old friend."_ ) - so he hadn't really feared it much. He had considered he might become a cripple, maybe immobile, maybe die a horrific death. _Immortality_ had never occurred to him.

Most wouldn't even consider it a punishment.

Stephen knew it was.

What could be more terrible than watching everyone you know and love _die_ while you live forever, destined to live through that inevitable pain again and again?

If he was being completely honest, the prospect of immortality _terrified_ him like nothing else.

Christine, Wong, the New Avengers, Miracolo ... _Toni_ ...

But ... Toni was supposed to be immortal too, right? How was _she_ taking all of this? She rested calmly against him but that didn't really _mean_ anything, did it? She had mastered hiding her real emotions and reactions since she was little. Hell, the first time they met, he could only barely recognize just how _annoyed_ she had been by all of that unwanted attention from those old bastards. He had only barely caught glimpses of annoyance, likely because she was so similar to him that he understood her easier than anyone else, even way back then. He had actually never really questioned that, either, how easily they clicked together. He knew they didn't end up together - or even as friends - in _every_ alternate universe, but in most they seemed to share a fairly strong bond, a decent one at worst. Not that _that_ mattered to him all that much. What _did_ was that they were both going to have to come to terms with quite a few things in the upcoming weeks and months, if not years and even _decades_. It's not everyday you get the chance to question your entire life - especially the future - without a chance to prepare _with_ a chance of one day having to face a giant multiversal being which destroys and restarts the universe you've been trying to save and protect for a good part of your life.

 _'At least we'll have_ time _,'_ the Sorcerer Supreme inwardly snorts at his own pun, glancing at the nightstand where the Eye of Agamotto rested, invisible to all but him and possibly Toni's scanners. And speaking of scanners and Toni and her technology ...

As if he didn't have _enough_ on his plate to worry about, the countdown to the return of JARVIS has begun hours ago. And while Stephen knows he's a pretty decent husband and father - or at least he hopes he is; he does his best for Toni and for Miracolo - if a bit absent due to interdimensional threats, that didn't mean Toni's greatest creation was going to take it lightly, all that's happened to his creator since he's been ... _absent_. Just the so called Civil War and Siberia is going to cause quite a stir on the Internet if JARVIS' has even half as much influence on it as his creator does. Stephen is half expecting to end up shot before the night is over while he's asleep. It wouldn't even surprise him at this point. He'd probably react the same way. It is _very_ easy to grow fond and protective of Toni Stark(Strange). He can only hope JARVIS will take better to the news than Stephen is dreading.

Though, Rogers will probably be his first target. Strange hopes the AI won't blow the entire Avengers Compound up just to destroy Captain America and his band of criminals. The Compound did nothing wrong, after all. It would just be unfortunate collateral damage. It didn't deserve it.

He was snapped out of those ridiculous thoughts by Levi shifting over their bodies and he looked down upon hearing a grumble, only now realizing Toni had apparently fallen asleep at some point, snuggled up to him and Levi for warmth as she was. Stephen's face softened as he gazed at her, a trembling hand reaching out to brush the hair out of her face gently, bending down just enough to press a gentle kiss to her temple.

The Ambassador of Time had shown him and the other Stephens _many_ things, many possibilities they themselves have never viewed seeing as that man had gazed into the future _twice_. It was hard not to look at his hands and compare their feats to the feats his alternate selves accomplished. Sure, their home universe was one of the best off, only beat by the 'devil' and his lover considering their Thanos had been defeated singlehandedly by that Strange before he could do any real damage. Material damage, they can deal with, but they had even saved _their Asgard_ from being destroyed at all. The loss of Odin and his wife had hit both Thor and Loki hard but everyone was alright in the end, unlike in their own universe, where so many people had died and Stephen had had to reverse time on several localized places just to save so many lives. He wasn't sure what, if anything, had happened to those lives in the other versions of the universe but he knew wondering about differences, big or small, between each iteration would only serve to drive him mad.

He knew he had a purpose, he knew he had a duty to protect the Time Stone and - _Thank Vishanti!_ \- Toni Stark while apparently helping her as she waits for the end of this universe of their's and the coming of Galactus. Everything else, he'll just have to deal with one at a time, as it comes at them.

At least they'll deal with it _together_ , like they had so many things in life.

And neither could ask for more.

00000

Stephen watched Tony as the man spoke in great detail with his (pseudo)children about their stint in other dimensions to their friends and colleagues upon returning in time for dinner, thus avoiding any tempers, panic attacks, arguments, scoldings or anything resembling it. The genius was as animated as one would expect him to be when entertaining a crowd or just being himself, but Stephen could see beneath that act. _Oh_ , Tony put up a good show, that was for sure, as even Pepper and Rhodey were fooled. Even the notorious Black Widow had fallen for the act, though Fury kept sending suspicious looks in Stark's direction throughout the evening as they all dined the combined efforts of several cooks who had prepared the meal for them while they were gone.

But Tony couldn't fool Stephen, not after fourteen million six hundred and five futures viewed of the man and two months of knowing him in person.

Not after experiencing the things the other Stephen Strange had shown him and the others.

The Eye of Agamotto never hung so heave around his neck.

Still, Tony, as was his way, easily attracted all the attention and controlled its flow like the professional speaker and public performer that he was. He was a man born into the limelight and he had grown up under it. He could direct a crowd better than a maestro did his orchestra. He entertained his captivated audience as he described each dimension with gusto, imitating voices and reactions for maximum effect, making jokes and dropping hints, his hands animated, his face changing expressions even wuth a smile always present on his lips, but Stephen could tell that it was all an act. His expressive honey colored eyes gave him away. Their depths hid an anguish Stephen both knew he understood and that he'll never quite fully comprehend. After all, Stephen was here all by some cosmic accident or something, predestined as it may be - it might not sound like it makes sense, but it does; trust him, he's a doctor (and the Sorcerer Supreme. For him, shit like this is an every day occurrence) - meant to be a side story that fulfilled the main tale.

Tony Stark, though, was the center of it. It all revolved around him and it was up to him to learn to live with it. And that wasn't easy on an ordinary day, let alone after learning that you're almost 100% immortal already and that it is your destiny, your _purpose_ to _watch your world die_. He, the man who had quite literally _died_ to ensure the universe's continued survival and the return of balance after the Snap, was going to be forced to watch it all disappear and he'll even have to hand over the finishing blow to the one who will deliver it at the end. The ex neurosurgeon couldn't begin to understand the pressure the man must be under.

He put up a brave front, messing around with his friends and family, later on even retelling the whole tale to Nebula and the Guardians of the Galaxy over an intergalactic chat while Morgan dozed against his chest and his two pseudo sons did their homework in his lab, and no one suspected a thing. His smile was genuine but his eyes remained haunted throughout the evening, even after everyone went to sleep. He and Pepper invited Stephen and Wong to stay overnight, a sleepy Morgan only just wake enough to insist on it before her parents took her to bed after the hopelessly smitten sorcerer accepted. He was forever doomed to be wrapped around the little girl's finger since she had inherited her father's whiskey colored eyes that he was so weak against. Wong, at least, gave him pointed smug looks as he portaled into the Sanctum to look after it for the night. His friend knew damn well about his feelings regarding Iron Man and always berated him for not just giving in to the man's and his wife's willingness to make him a part of their family, a part of their _marriage_. Stephen just didn't want to intrude and knew, if Tony was his, he wouldn't be nearly as _half_ generous as Pepper was with Tony. It's why he forced himself to keep them at arms' length.

He had a feeling he won't be able to do that anymore, not as of tonight.

He was right, of course. Hours later, well after midnight, well after everyone had long since fallen asleep, he silently made his way down into Tony's home lab, finding the engineer, as he had expected, sitting on a working stool, in complete darkness save a big hologram of an orange globe that seemed to be slowly rebuilding itself. Stephen gave it an educated guess that that must be JARVIS and, judging by the excited whirring of DUM-E, U and Butterfingers, his guess is probably right. He stood there for just a moment, taking in the scene of the three robots all but cuddling up to their creator like overeager puppies, before he _really_ looked at the man in question and his heart clenched painfully in his chest as he took in Tony's posture, his clenched Gauntleted fist, his slack face, that lost and haunted look in his beautiful eyes.

 _'Oh, Tony,'_ the sorcerer couldn't help but think, softly making his way over to the genius, kneeling in front of him and taking a hold of both of his hands in his own. Those tormented eyes looked down to him from watching his oldest friend and greatest creation slowly rebuilding itself and Stephen knew, in that moment, that he'd _gladly_ face _any_ consequences he might have to in order to do whatever it takes to take that look away. For now, he gently squeezed Tony's hands, offering comfort in that simple small gesture and giving him the smallest of reassuring smiles. "Hey," he breathed in barely a whisper, smile growing just a tad bit bigger when the word was whispered back with a minuscule squeeze of the other's hands to his, obviously painfully careful not to accidentally hurt him by gripping too hard. Stephen would gladly take that pain if a little more pressure helped Tony feel better. Pain was an old friend. Giving Tony some peace of mind would be well worth it. "Want to talk about it?"

It was an offer, an offer the shorter man paused to hesitantly consider, obviously not ready just yet to show any more vulnerability. Strange just knelt there, patiently waiting, willing to be there until sunrise even if Tony doesn't say anything about what's tormenting him, just wanting to show this incredible man that he wasn't alone. It was an impulse born long before he knew just _what_ the man was meant to do, not so long after he'd first met him, actually. Five years and a few months ago, on that day when the world might as well have ended, after nearly dying in the crash of their big flying donut ship on Titan, that's when the first hints of camaraderie was born between them and, in a matter of hours, it solidified into an unspoken friendship that neither could explain nor deny. Viewing fourteen million six hundred and five futures only made him infinitely more fond of the man and five years of him being 'dead' had obviously had the same effect on Stark. The trust they had somehow developed seemed to strengthen each day, no matter whether they were alive or 'dead', together or dimensions apart. The impulse now was impossibly stronger than it had been when they first met. Stephen was just finally done trying to deny it.

It took him a while, a good half an hour, actually, before the first words tumbled through Tony's lips, hesitant, barely above a whisper, his eyes locked desperately onto Stephen's, his hands unwilling to let the sorcerer go.

"I'm going to watch them all die," the genius sounded so broken it shattered Strange's heart into a million pieces. "Despite everything, despite all my sacrifices, I'm still going to watch them all die. Rhodey, Pepper, Happy, Peter, Harley, the Team ... _Morgan_ ," he choked on the name, pitching forwards and Stephen had to catch him lest he fall over. He tucked the vulnerable, hurting man's head against his chest, sitting down onto the floor with his legs crossed and dragging the pliant Tony with him into his lap, hugging him tightly. The Cloak of Levitation, always so easily recognizing distress, wrapped around them both in a tight embrace, caressing Tony's cheeks with its high collar and catching any tears that might have escaped. Stephen just put his chin on the inventor's head and hummed reassuringly as he felt Tony grab handfuls of his robes tightly and curled up even closer to him, seeking as much comfort as he could get. "Haven't I done enough? Why do I have to watch them _die_? Why do I have to watch it _all_ die? Where have I messed up this time? What do I need to fix? I've always been such a fundamental, colossal screw up, I don't know what I was expecting! I should have done more, done better. This is all my fault-"

"Shh, shh, hey now, don't talk like that," the once doctor reprimanded gently as he gave the pilot of Iron Man a firm, short squeeze. "None of that. It's not your fault. There's nothing you could have done more or better, Tony. You gave it your all and you saved the universe. You've done good, Tony. More than good. The universe rejoices and chants your name to the stars like a prayer, full of life because of _you_. There's nothing more to fix. You're not a screw up."

"Then why do I have to live through my worst nightmare all over again?" The man mumbled into his chest and Stephen felt like his heart had shattered even more.

_"And I'm the man who killed the Avengers. I saw them all dead, Nick. Felt it. The whole world, too. Because of me. I wasn't ready. I didn't do all I could. I watched my friends die. You'd think that'd be as bad as it gets, right? Nope, it wasn't the worst part."_

_"The worst part is that you didn't."_

That long ago conversation with Nick Fury may have just shaped Tony beyond any care for his own life and what happened on Titan, when they all turned to dust and he didn't ... That was the culmination of six years of fear and that start of his despair.

The world has thrown this man down, broken him piece by piece so many times and watched dispassionately as he struggled to put all the pieces back together that Stephen marveled at the strength necessary to get back up again and again even when everyone kicks you while you're down. It was damn clear there was a fucking good reason why it was _Tony Stark_ and not anyone else that's been chosen to be the Contender for the Infinity Stones. The man doesn't give up, no matter how unlikely victory is. He just keeps on fighting. He keeps trying to find solutions. He'd put aside his own life and safety and happiness so many times that Strange wondered how he was even alive or sane right now. And now the universe was asking that of him again and Stephen knows it's because it knows Tony will deliver. The man is far too selfless for his own good. Stephen knew it stemmed from his guilt over his weapons manufacturing days, stemmed from a certain Dr Yinsen's death and words of _"Don't waste your life,"_ stemmed from his fear of letting people down.

Stephen could understand. He, too, feared failure. It's what had made him an excellent doctor but what had held him back in the Mystic Arts. He knew he still suffered from that fear, but, as he did with his demons, he learned to live above it. He embraced how it had shaped him and resolved to learn from the experience instead of letting it drag him down. He's been protecting the world only for a few years now, but what about Tony? After fifteen years of fighting, it was a miracle he wasn't _drowning_ in his fear and his demons. The fact that he was only _now_ having a breakdown about being brought back from the dead after immortality and the prospect of living through his nightmare all over again was thrown on top of it spoke volumes about his strength. He had been keeping it bottled up for two months, never talking to anyone about it. It was obvious from the way he clung to Stephen, from how the words tumbled out without control or finesse that this was the first time they were uttered. Stephen was honored that Tony had felt he could trust _him_ more with this vulnerability than his long time friends or even his wife.

It just made him even more protective and impossibly _fond_ of the man.

 _'Who am I kidding?'_ He thought derisively, internally sneering at himself and his own cowardice even as he gently rubbed circles in Tony's back as the man started shaking with soundless, tearless sobs against him. _'It's not_ fondness _. It's_ love _.'_ And it was. He couldn't deny it anymore than he could deny the sky was blue. He'd be a right fool if he did and he didn't want to push Tony away for a second longer. He wanted to be selfish. Just this once.

"It's through no fault of yours, Tony. It's not punishment, even if it feels like it. It's just that _someone_ has to bear this burden and the multiverse is being an asshole about it by picking you."

" _You're_ an asshole," the genius answered with a snort and Stephen couldn't help but chuckle, his heart relaxing just a bit. If Tony can joke around, then perhaps everything will be fine. Eventually and most certainly not now, but it will be. And wasn't _that_ a wonderful, optimistic thought.

 _'I guess one of us has to harbor such thoughts until the other is ready to share them.'_ He brought up a hand and carded it through silky brown locks of hair, humming in contentment. " _Your_ asshole, douchebag." He smiled when he felt Tony practically melt against him at both the gesture and in response to his words. _'I swear he's like a cat.'_

"Yeah, _my_ asshole," Stark agreed, snuggling closer, his grip on Stephen's shirt tightening in a spasm before reluctantly relaxing. "Stay?"

"Always," the sorcerer replied with a hammering heart, reclining back a little and trusting the Cloak to hold them up, arms still tight around Tony. And he stayed, even as dawn approached, the genius asleep in his embrace once more, but much more peacefully than in the last eleven years, if not longer. He stayed even as Pepper, who had obviously been awake for some time now and had probably been waiting for them to sort these things out between them, joined them, snuggling up to Tony's back and questioningly reached for Stephen's hand not holding Tony's head under his chin. He stayed, hos fingers interlocking with Pepper's, the Cloak shifting to accommodate all three of them, he stayed as DUM-E moved something behind his back so he can properly lean on it while his magical companion became their blanket. He stayed even as the last pieces of orange colored code fit back into their proper place, long after the redhead had also fallen asleep, being the first to greet the returned JARVIS with a quiet explanation.

He stayed, years after that day when the worlds collided and he properly grasped this last chance they had all been granted.

He stayed with Tony until the very end.

**THE END**


End file.
